Mickey McLeod

Mickey Mcleod and his wife Robbyn may have been a little bit naïve about agriculture when they first moved to Mansell Farm on Salt Spring in the early ‘80s, but they knew from the outset that they didn’t want to use pesticides or artificial fertilizers. It just seemed like the proper thing to do. So with the help of the greenhouse that they had built, Mickey and Robbyn started a large market garden. They had a farm stand along the side of the road, and they also sold at the Saturday farmer’s market.

As far as bringing coffee 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 stuff. They spent a lot of time together at Caffe Trieste in San Francisco during the mid ‘70s, drinking their classic Italian coffee. Before they knew it, they were roasting and grinding organic beans themselves, brewing them on their woodstove back on the homestead.

Gradually, things evolved from there. In 1996, they opened up their first roasting café on Salt Spring. Turns out that they weren’t quite ready for the demand for freshly roasted, organic coffee, and after three days of crushing lineups, they had to close for another five to regroup. Between the roasting and the mopping of floors, they rarely got more than a few hours of sleep in those days.

Today the Salt Spring Coffee Company is one of Western Canada's most respected micro-roasters of 100% certified organic, fair-trade, shade-grown, and carbon-neutral coffees. The company uses fuel-efficient cars and bio-diesel fuel in their delivery trucks. Approximately 1% of their sales go towards social and environmental causes. The company sells merchandise that has been screened as environmentally-friendly. At its cafes, the company also promotes the use of reusable coffee travel mugs instead of paper cups. The Salt Spring Coffee Company became one of the world's first carbon neutral coffee roasters, as recognized by the David Suzuki Foundation.(source: Doing Business in a New Climate, DSF, December 2008)