Soul City Roasters began in 2015 when our previous Director Ben Cosford decided that he would combine his love for drinking and roasting coffee with his desire to start a business to help provide employment for refugees and those doing it tough. Ben began roasting coffee back in 2009 after watching his father-in-law roast coffee in a popcorn popper.
Like many entrepreneurial start ups, the business began in his garage. It was while serving as a pastor alongside the business that he saw the great needs of refugees and just how difficult it is to get into the workforce without any local work experience while struggling with English.
Here at Soul City Roasters we are very mindful of the whole coffee supply chain and all those involved in bringing the bean from seed to cup. That is why we only source coffee through known farmers and wash stations, where relationship is key. We call this relational trade, and believe it is far superior to fair trade certification, due to the transparency that comes from relationship, helping to ensure all in the chain are treated justly.
Our desire from the beginning was to ensure that we engaged with suppliers of green beans that sourced with ethical and sustainable practices. Our suppliers have close relationships with the coffee growers and interact regularly with them to support their farms and improve their production of high quality specialty coffee beans.
Soul City Roasters is committed to only roasting specialty grade coffee, where each bean is nurtured to draw out the distinctive flavours of its origin, and then brought to cup for your enjoyment. We use artisan roasting methods, profiling every roast, and using all our senses to consistently roast every batch to our high standards.
$1 from every bag sold will be donated to the Welcoming Centre in Bowden to support refugees.