A variation of this post was first published on the Westboro Connection blog.

Bridgehead Coffee, a renowned fair-trade coffeehouse chain, is a well-known hub for the residents of Westboro and Hintonburg. The first company to offer consumers fairly-traded coffee in Canada, it has a special relationship with the Westboro and Hintonburg neighbourhoods. Back on June 17, 2000, the first Bridgehead Coffeehouse opened at 362 Richmond Road in Westboro. Currently, it has twenty outlets and includes a line of organic teas and food products.

Bridgehead is known for the quality of its coffees – and the warm and generous service of its team. The staff consciously make an extra effort to bring joy to every customer, and being limited to takeout hasn’t dampened their enthusiasm for creating special moments for everyone they serve. The Bridgehead team are inspired by the long-lasting memories that can be created over cups of coffee.

Bridgehead also deeply values its interactions with the farmers who grow the beans and pluck the tea leaves. They aid them by providing support and also learn how to inculcate environment-friendly practices into their daily work. There is a desire to extend the relationship to customers in the future. “We want our customers to know the farmers responsible for their coffees,” says Blair Amyotte, Director of Marketing and Brand at Bridgehead Coffee.

There have been challenges in creating these relationships during the pandemic, particularly with travel restrictions in place. “The values of community-building and collaboration have still continued to guide our way,” adds Blair. The community of farmers seemed to be hit hard financially. One particular farmer was unable to produce enough harvest to take to market. However, Bridgehead turned the challenge into a chance to support the farmers as well as celebrate its employees. They bought the few bags the farmer had produced, which they gave to their staff as thank you coffees with a note introducing the farmer and sharing his story.

Bridgehead is also committed to supporting the community close to home. Around the beginning of the spread of COVID-19 in Ottawa, when testing centers were just opening up, the Bridgehead team decided to surprise the nurses and staff at the Brewer Park Arena Walk-in COVID Assessment Centre with free coffees. The Bridgehead team was met with an overwhelming response – full of gratitude and joy. The emotional reaction inspired them to continue delivering coffees to these heroic frontline workers every day since then. They have expanded this initiative to deliver to other different local health care worker groups as well, such as The Ottawa Hospital, CHEO, EORLA and community health clinics like Centretown Community Health Clinic.

While Bridgehead is undoubtedly a perfect go-to for a hot beverage or a delicious bite to eat, it’s the kindness and generosity of the team that make it truly special – whether it is delighting customers, aiding farmers, rewarding employees, or celebrating the healthcare workers who are guarding our community.

About Discover Local

Discover Local is an exclusive program for our residents, created to better acquaint them with their neighbourhood and the many local businesses and services therein. It’s all about discovering what makes their local community so vibrant, inspiring, and livable. From cafes and restaurants to retailers, gyms and beyond, we invite you to discover local – there’s a whole neighbourhood waiting to be discovered!

The post With coffee and caring, Bridgehead Coffee is nourishing our community appeared first on Hintonburg Connection Blog.

A variation of this post was first published on the Westboro Connection blog.

When it comes to meeting our needs for high-quality beans, while also acting as a community hub for coffee lovers and making a positive global impact, Equator Coffee Roasters has been a trailblazer in the city since the late nineties. And its café, located in the heart of Westboro, aims to continue sharing a passion for great coffee and social change – for seasoned java lovers and curious newcomers alike.

“You want to feel like you’re walking into somewhere familiar, whether it’s your first time or your five-thousandth time. I wanted it to be a place where you’re going to make friends with someone on any given day that you’re in there,” explains Chris Petrie, the café’s general manager.

It’s that spirit of community – along with a rotating selection of truly unique coffee beans including their signature best-seller, Freakin’ Good Coffee, as well as a curated selection of locally produced food and beer – that has attracted local coffee aficionados since the café opened in 2014. At that time, Equator had already established itself as one of Ottawa’s premier coffee roasters after its founders Craig and Amber Hall had built up a reputation selling beans at local farmers markets. 

Today, Equator is a member of Cooperative Coffees, a collective of 23 North American roasters that operate under the principles of fair trade – essentially working directly and transparently with independent organic coffee producers in developing countries, so that the producers aren’t taken advantage of and are paid fairly for their hard work (all the while benefitting the surrounding communities as well).

The result is an inspiring brew of environmental sustainability, stronger communities, and, unsurprisingly, excellent coffee – a central draw to the Westboro café for coffee lovers on the lookout for one-of-a-kind, single-origin beans and other unusual varieties from ‘micro lots’ such as a rare Peruvian bean (“We only have 12 bags for Westboro,” Petrie says).

Petrie explains that his café is seeing more and more interest in unique coffee, especially now that everyone is spending far more time at home and online. “We’ve been trying to do fun social media videos with information and advice,” adds Petrie. “I have a good relationship with a lot of our regular customers – they’ll text me or email me to pick my brain.”

For the curious who have yet to venture into Equator, Petrie has lots of helpful advice to share (“We want to show people what the possibilities are when they brew coffee properly,” he explains), as well as some recommendations if you’re ready to level up your coffee game – at his café or in your own kitchen.

“I would say come in for the single-origin along with a bag of Freakin’ Good,” says Petrie, “so you can experience something completely different. I want to be people’s first choice for coffee in the neighbourhood, but if we can’t sit them down then we definitely want to help them do it better at home.”
 

About Discover Local

Discover Local is an exclusive program for our residents that introduces them to our neighbourhood and encourages them to “discover” the best places in our Hintonburg community. We are proud to have Equator Coffee Roasters as our Discover Local partner and excited to introduce a café that has been offering quality organic products for more than 20 years to Hintonburg Connection residents.

The post A Double-Shot of Positive Change from Westboro’s Equator Café appeared first on Hintonburg Connection Blog.