Just Us!

Just Us! Coffee Roasters Co-op
TypeWorker Co-op
Founded1996 (1996)
Headquarters
Grand-Pré, Nova Scotia
,
Canada
Websitejustuscoffee.com

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".[better source needed] The company is a worker-owned cooperative.

The company was founded in 1996. The name was conceived as a pun on the word justice and references the fair trade movement.

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

History

Grand Pre roastery and retail outlet

The business began as a coffee roastery in New Minas. Just Us! was 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.[better source needed]

Rather than using the charity model to support farmers in the Global South, Just Us! partners with producers to offer them more control.[citation needed]

In 2000, Just Us! relocated to a larger facility in Grand Pré, Nova Scotia. 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 cafés in Wolfville, Nova Scotia, and Grand-Pré, Nova Scotia, and wholesales to many cafés, restaurants, and grocery stores across Atlantic Canada. They also sell their products on their online store.[citation needed]

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 café.

In 2017, during Canada's celebration of the 150th anniversary of its confederation, Just Us! put up a road sign and posted on social media stating, "Canada 150, Mi'kmaki 13000" to bring attention to the struggles of Indigenous peoples living in Canada.

Co-operative

The company is a worker-owned cooperative. In order for a worker to become a member of the Just Us! cooperative, they must be employed at Just Us! for at least two years and invest $2000 into the business.

Products

Just Us! sells a variety of products, including whole coffee beans, ground coffee, instant coffee, green coffee beans, syrups, coffee brewing equipment, tea, chocolate, and sugar.[better source needed]

Certifications

Just Us! has obtained a number of certifications for their ethical and sustainability standards. They are the first member to have joined the Small Producers Program (SPP) in 2011. The SPP program is the only Fair Trade program in the world that is entirely owned by small producers.  Just Us! is Fairtrade-certified by Fairtrade Canada, and listed on Fair World Project’s website as a mission-driven brand.[citation needed]

References

  1. ↑ "Just Us! Coffee Roasters Co-operative Ltd". Nova Scotia Food + Beverage Exports.
  2. 1 2 "Success story: Just us! Coffee Roasters Co-op". Canada.ca. 10 March 2026.
  3. ↑ "About Us : Just Us! Coffee Roasters Co-op". 2007-09-18. Archived from the original on 2007-09-18. Retrieved 2024-04-02.
  4. ↑ "Worker co-operative success stories". Government of Canada Cooperatives Secretariat. 1999. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  5. ↑ Cian McMahon Karen Miner (March 2021). Case Study: Just Us! Coffee Roasters Cooperative. Halifax, Canada: International Centre for Cooperative Management, Saint Mary's University.
  6. ↑ "Success story: Just us! Coffee Roasters Co-op". ISED. 10 March 2026.
  7. ↑ "Our Co-op". Just Us! Coffee Roasters. Retrieved 2024-04-14.
  8. ↑ "Brewhaha". Atlantic Business Magazine. 2014-12-15. Retrieved 2026-10-25. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
  9. ↑ "Just Us! Coffee Roasters Co-op's "Anti-franchise" Model of Co-op Development | Grassroots Economic Organizing". geo.coop. Retrieved 2024-04-02.
  10. ↑ Lum, Zi-Ann (2017-06-13). "N.S. Coffee House Puts Up One Hell Of A Canada 150 Sign". HuffPost Canada. Archived from the original on 2017-06-14. Retrieved 2026-01-06.
  11. ↑ TEEBcase by Almack K. (2010) Fair Trade Certification for coffee, Canada, available at: TEEBweb.org.
  12. ↑ "Organic Coffee". Just Us! Coffee Roasters. Retrieved 2024-04-14.