A local tea room inside Vancouver International Airport (YVR) has been named a finalist for a global airport food and beverage award.
Paragon Tea Room's YVR Airport location is one of 18 finalists in the airport coffee or tea shop of the year category for the 2025 Airport Food and Beverage (FAB) and Hospitality Conference and Awards.
Finalists include airport shops in Saudi Arabia, Ireland, Sweden, Singapore, Qatar and Spain.
The FAB Awards honour businesses that have made a positive impact via environmental, social and governance initiatives. Each entry is assessed by an independent panel of judges based on a specific list of criteria.
There are 23 categories in this year's awards, including customer and hospitality initiative, best food and beverage offer, Instagrammable location, lounge and more.
Paragon co-founder Nelson Poon told the Richmond News that "surprised" didn't come close to how they felt about being named a finalist.
"It's definitely exciting. It took a lot of people working towards to achieve this," said Poon.
"This moment is serendipity."
Poon said Paragon was fortunate to have been invited to join Hudson Group and YVR Airport to help reimagine the terminal as more than just a place to travel through.
"It's a connecting point, where the experience can be enjoyable and a place where people get to know each other, instead of just being treated like passengers."
Martin Moodie, founder of the FAB Awards and chairman of the Moodie Davitt Report, said shops are "pivotal" to airports' food and beverage scenes..
"Unsurprisingly then, the category attracted a huge number of entries. However, the judges made it clear in their rigorous scoring to reach a shortlist that they were looking for offers and environments that stood out from a very large pack," said Moodie on the FAB Awards website.
Winners will be announced at a ceremony in Barcelona, Spain, on June 26.
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