User:J.shepp.walker/Salt Spring Coffee Co

Salt Spring Coffee Co ...

Salt Spring Coffee
Salt Spring Coffee is an artisan coffee roaster based in Richmond, BC, Canada. They own and operate three coffee houses in British Columbia. The company’s roots, and name, can be traced back to Salt Spring Island, a gulf island in British Columbia where in 1996 co-founders Mickey McLeod and Robbyn Scott partnered with Mickey's brother Ross McLeod to open the doors to Salt Spring Coffee’s first roasting café. Since then, Salt Spring Coffee has grown and is now certified organic, certified direct fair trade and carbon neutral. On September 22, 2011 Salt Spring Coffee was voted the Best Fair Trade Coffee Shop in Vancouver by readers of the Georgia Straight Newspaper.

Locations
Salt Spring Coffee owns and operates three Coffee Houses in British Columbia. One on Vancouver’s Main Street, one in the village of Ganges on Salt Spring Island and one at BC Ferries’ Tsawwassen Terminal.

Certified Organic
Salt Spring Coffee is certified organic in Canada. The company was given this designation by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) through their third party certification organization PAC 16-157. Canada's Organic Products Regulations (OPR) came into force on June 30, 2009 and set rigorous standards for the certification of products as organic by accredited bodies. Products that meet the requirements and contain at least 95% organic content may be labeled as "organic" in Canada and only then can they feature the Biologique Canada Organic logo. The Biologique Canada Organic logo is featured on every bag of Salt Spring Coffee’s coffee.

Fair to Farmer Direct
Salt Spring Coffee established Fair to Farmer Direct, the company’s direct trade program in 2010. Although 2006 was when the company first implemented the direct trade model. The company pays Fair to Farmer Direct coffee farmers more than the fair trade base price for their coffee. The program operates in Nicaragua and Peru and all of the coffee in this program is certified organic and certified direct trade. The Fair to Farmer Direct program is certified by Quality Certification Services (QCS), a third party certification agency that objectively verifies Salt Spring Coffee's claims relating to Fair to Farmer Direct.

Operationally Carbon Neutral
With the help of Climate Smart and Offsetters, Salt Spring Coffee has made serious efforts to measure and offset their carbon footprint. They voluntarily purchase green electricity and green natural gas from Bullfrog Power to power their Viking Roasting Facility in Richmond, BC. Salt Spring Coffee was recognized by the David Suzuki Foundation in their 2010 report Doing Business in a New Climate. The report outlines Salt Springs Coffee's Carbon Cool initiative, which set out in 2007 with the goal of offering one of the world’s first carbon neutral cups of coffee. In June 2010 Salt Spring Coffee announced that their Classic Single Origin coffee, French Roast Nicaragua was in fact the first carbon neutral coffee in Canada.