New Brunswick's JavaMoose aims to perk up coffee drinkers

A New Brunswick coffee company is looking to extend its reach in Canada with help from a Brazilian coffee supplier.

JavaMoose Coffee Roasters, operator of four coffee houses in and around Saint John, has inked a supply deal with Brazilian coffee bean company Coccamp, which will ship beans to Java Moose through the New Brunswick city’s port.

Those beans will get roasted at JavaMoose’s roasting facility and be sold under the JavaMoose brand at its stores, online and other locations.

JavaMoose co-owner Randy Pederson, says his company already sells its coffee at some independent specialty retailers and grocery stores in New Brunswick, but he’s interested in supplying stores farther afield.

“This is an opportunity for us to get JavaMoose in front of more consumers,” he told Canadian Grocer this week.

In addition to packaged coffee, the company has also just started production of Keurig-style coffee pods featuring the brand's signature moose image.

The supply deal signed with Coccamp originated during a government trade mission in which Latin American companies visited Saint John.

Coccamp, “was trying to establish a business here and looking for customers. We’re a fairly larger purchaser of Brazilian coffee. We’d rather get the coffee shipped here than through Montreal or New York,” Pederson explained of the match.

Coccamp also set up an office in Saint John. Previously the company had used a broker to distribute in Canada.

In addition to its four coffee shops, JavaMoose sells brew online. Pederson says that visitors to Saint John who have patronized his 19-year-old chain often order from him online when they get back home.

“We just sent some coffee to Nunavut and we’ve shipped as far away as Singapore,” he said.