User:Aspen.iris/Just Us!

'''Just Us! Coffee Roasters Co-op''' is a Canadian importer of fair trade coffee, tea, sugar, and chocolate. Based in Grand Pré, Nova Scotia, Just Us! products are sold throughout Canada, typically in shops specializing in fair trade goods such as Ten Thousand Villages. Their motto is “People and the Planet before Profits”™.

The company was founded in 1996 by Jeff and Debra Moore and 3 friends, after a visit by Jeff Moore to the mountainous coffee-producing regions of Mexico in December 1995. The name was conceived as a pun on the word justice, reflecting the motivations behind the fair trade movement.

The company roasts an annual volume of over 10,000 kilograms. In 2020, Just Us! produced $7.8 million CAD in sales.

History
The business began as a coffee roastery in New Minas. Just Us! was a trailblazer in the coffee industry as the first fair trade coffee roaster in Canada, starting a movement that lead to many other fair trade roasters in Canada. The business is a worker-owned cooperative, a decision inspired by the producer co-ops in Mexico from which Just Us! sources its coffee. In order for a worker to become a member of the cooperative, they must be employed at Just Us! for at least two years and invest $2000 into the business.

Just Us! uses coffee as a vehicle for change. Rather than using the charity model to support farmers in the Global South, Just Us! partners with producers to empower them to take control over their own land, food, and their lives. They aim to show the world the benefits of social enterprise and using business for the greater good.

The roastery is now located in Grand-Pre. Fair Trade remains the main focus of the business. Just Us! has extended its product line to include chocolate, teas, and sugar and expanded operations to include a fair trade chocolate factory in Grand Pré, Nova Scotia. Just Us! has two cafes in Wolfville, Nova Scotia and Grand-Pré, Nova Scotia and wholesales to many cafes, restaurants, and grocery stores across Atlantic Canada. They also sell their products on their online store.

Just Us! also has a partner program, through which it shares resources to assist other local businesses in areas such as creating a co-op or opening a cafe.

Products
Just Us! sells a wide variety of products, including whole and ground coffee beans, instant coffee, green coffee beans, syrups, coffee brewing equipment, tea, chocolate, and sugar.

As of April 2024, they sell the following items:

Canada 150, Mi'kmaki 13000
Just Us! has also gained international attention for its statement made through its road sign and posted on social media stating, "Canada 150, Mi'kmaki 13000". The sign was made as an effort to bring attention to the struggles of Indigenous peoples living in Canada during the widespread celebrations of Canada's 150th birthday.

Coffee Bag Recycling
Just Us! states that they are also currently working on a coffee bag recycling program in order to properly and most efficiently recycle their plastic-based bags. Customers can return their bags to the company's locations in Wolfville and Grand Pré. Their current coffee bags contain two layers of plastic and a layer of aluminium, making it difficult for them to be recycled in a traditional way. Until Just Us! is able to confirm the best destination for these bags, they remain in a storage location.

General manager Joey Pitoello believes that the government should provide more leadership on complex recycling in cases such as these.

Certifications
Just Us! has obtained a number of certifications for their ethical and sustainability standards.

One of them includes the Small Producers Program (SPP), which they were the first in the world to join in 2011. The SPP program is the only Fair Trade program in the world that is entirely owned by small producers.

Moreover, Just Us! is Fairtrade-certified by Fairtrade Canada. Fairtrade is an ethical certification that seeks to ensure fair prices and decent working conditions for farmers and producers in the Global South.

It is also listed on Fair World Project’s website as a mission-driven brand.