This is our Story

Great coffee that doesn't compromise the earth.

Growing organically on Salt Spring Island.

For us it took a little bit of early naivety mixed with a healthy dose of youthful optimism and a whole lot of love.

When Robbyn and I first moved to Mansell Farm on Salt Spring Island in the early 1980s, we knew that we did not want to use pesticides or artificial fertilizers on our farm. It just seemed like the proper thing to do. So, we started with a large market garden in our greenhouse. Then, we opened a small farm stand alongside our road; next thing we knew, we were selling our locally grown, organic goods at the farmer’s market in Ganges on Salt Spring Island.

When did coffee come into the equation?

It’s definitely Robbyn that gets to take the credit. She grew up in California and brought with her a bit of urban savvy combined with a thirst for the freshly roasted good stuff.

In the 1970s we spent a lot of time together at Caffe Trieste in San Francisco drinking their classic Italian coffee and before we knew it, we were roasting and grinding organic coffee beans back on Salt Spring, brewing them on the homestead’s old woodstove.

Salt Spring Coffee - Circa 1998

The first coffee house.

Robbyn, my brother Ross and I opened the doors to our first roasting café on Salt Spring Island in 1996 - turns out there was a sizable demand for freshly roasted, organic coffee on the Island and after three days of crushing line-ups, we had to close for five days simply to regroup and catch our breath. Between the coffee roasting and the mopping of floors, we rarely got more than a few hours of sleep in those early days.

Of course, Salt Spring Coffee has seen plenty of changes since then. We’ve grown a great deal. We're certified organic, certified direct fair trade and operationally carbon neutral - plus Robbyn, Ross and I get alot more sleep.

But we’re still all about what we’ve always been about - great coffee that doesn’t compromise the earth.

Mickey McLeod

Co-founder, President and CEO