Salt Spring Coffee

Business Description

In 1996, founders Mickey McLeod and Robbyn Scott opened a coffee roasting café on Salt Spring Island with the mission of bringing sustainable coffee to their island community. Salt Spring Coffee was born, and the freshly roasted coffee quickly became an island favourite, sparking conversations with customers about coffee quality and sourcing.

In their quest for coffee that was environmentally friendly and fair to farmers, Mickey and Robbyn made several origin trips to Central America and Indonesia, visiting coffee farming communities in Costa Rica, Peru, Nicaragua, Sumatra and Uganda. Together, they built long-term, direct trade partnerships with coffee producers, who not only shared their hospitality but also shared their generational expertise in organic coffee production and regenerative agricultural practices.

As a result, Salt Spring Coffee became one of the first 10 companies in Canada to be Fair Trade Certified. Since committing to fair trade, Salt Spring Coffee has contributed millions in fair trade premiums, which are additional funds paid directly to coffee farmers who decide on how to reinvest the money within their communities.