An Alberta-based coffee roasting company is moving its business to the Edmonton International Airport.
Alternate Route Coffee, a coffee importer and roasting company, is setting up its roastery and distribution centre at EIA’s Airport City Sustainability Campus.
“Who we’re partners with is really important. We want that to be a reflection of who we are and we want everybody to succeed out of that partnership or benefit from that partnership,” Alternate Route Coffee co-founder Ian Wahl said.
Alternate Route Coffee was founded in 2017 in nearby Leduc, Alta., by Ian and Kellie Wahl. The company imports beans from all over the world, roast specialty coffee and supply it around Canada.
Ian Wahl said having their operation at the Edmonton airport allows the company access global markets and partner with an organization that also values sustainability.
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“They (EIA) focus on sustainability. There’s really no one, big one-size-fits-all answer, but it’s really about changing our daily practices, small amounts at a time to make big changes,” Wahl said.
“We’re not going to change the world through one move, but I think through consistent, conscientious moves every day, I think we can make a more sustainable future for both the environment and both the producers and supply us the green coffee that we roast.”
The airport said the coffee company is the second in a new focus for EIA to support food processing and manufacturing and in collaboration with its Ag-celerator.
The first company to partner with the EIA on the Ag-celerator was Edmonton-based Uproot Food Collective: a company that started when three farmers market producers (Honest Dumplings, South Island Pie Co., and Natural Kitchen Delights) came together to share kitchen space in order to increase their production while keeping costs manageable.
“After health, safety and security, our top priority is supporting economic development and job creation for our region,” EIA air service and business development vice-president Myron Keehn said in a statement.
“The Ag-celerator at EIA and partners like Alternate Route show there is a need and demand for us to support food manufacturing.
“We look forward to have some top quality, freshly roasted coffee, made right here at EIA and then helping export it across Canada and the world.”
The airport said 1,650-square-metre Ag-celerator will open later this year inside a former flight kitchen space, with a focus on supporting small food innovators in production and packaging of their products, and accessing national and global markets.
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