Worker-owned. Coffee-obsessed. Since 1996.
We're Just Us! Coffee Roasters, a worker-owned co-operative based in Nova Scotia. Since 1996, we've believed that great coffee and a fairer way of doing business belong together.
For us, being a co-operative isn't just a business structure. It's part of how we make decisions, share responsibility, build relationships and stay true to our purpose.
A different way to do business
Most coffee companies are owned by investors or shareholders. Just Us! is owned by workers.
Our co-operative gives eligible employees the opportunity to become member-owners and participate in the democratic life of the business. From roasting and packaging to serving customers and supporting our operations, the people doing the work have an opportunity to help shape the company.
It's a model built on participation, shared responsibility and the belief that business should serve people - not just generate profit.
And it's a model we share with many of the coffee-growing co-operatives we work with around the world.
How it all began
The idea for Just Us! began with a question: Could a coffee company do justice to the coffee, the farmers and the planet?
In 1993, co-founder Jeff Moore travelled to Ethiopia, where he experienced the cultural importance of coffee and discovered the remarkable flavour of freshly roasted beans.
Two years later, a visit to Chiapas, Mexico, brought him face to face with the possibilities of fair trade and the people working to build a different kind of coffee economy.
In 1996, Jeff, Deb and their partners established Just Us! Coffee Roasters Co-operative in New Minas, Nova Scotia. Their ambition was bigger than selling coffee. They wanted to demonstrate that a business could produce something exceptional while treating people fairly.
Thirty years later, that ambition continues to guide us.
Hear Directly From Our Founders
Our story is best told by the people who helped start it. Hear how a small coffee venture in Nova Scotia became a co-operative built around fairness, quality and a belief in doing business differently.
Co-operation beyond our own walls
Our commitment to co-operation doesn't stop at our roastery.
From the beginning, we've worked to build meaningful relationships with small-scale coffee producers and their co-operatives. These relationships are about more than buying beans. They're about recognizing producers as partners, respecting their expertise and supporting a fairer coffee trade.
In 2002, we began working with Guatemala's Comité Campesino del Altiplano (CCDA), starting with 6,000 pounds of coffee. The following year, that amount doubled.
Partnerships like this remind us why Just Us! exists: to connect the people who grow coffee with the people who enjoy it, through a trading system rooted in fairness and mutual respect.
People and planet before profit
We believe a successful business should be measured by more than its financial results.
That's why social justice, environmental responsibility and meaningful work have been central to Just Us! since the beginning.
We support organic agriculture, work with small-scale producers, and seek to make decisions that respect the communities and environments connected to our business.
We've also invested in renewable-energy commitments and worked to reduce our environmental impact here in Atlantic Canada.
We don't pretend the work is finished. Being a responsible co-operative means continuing to learn, improve and hold ourselves accountable.
Thirty years of doing things differently
What began as a small idea in Nova Scotia has grown into a community of coffee growers, worker-members, customers and partners who believe business can be a force for good.
We've learned a great deal along the way, and our story is still being written.
Thank you for being part of it.
Come work with us!
Interested in being part of a different kind of coffee company?
At Just Us!, we value collaboration, learning and meaningful work. Employees have opportunities to develop their skills, contribute ideas and, when eligible, become worker-members of our co-operative.
If that sounds like your kind of workplace, we'd love to hear from you.
