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Our Story

Our mission: Make Specialty Coffee Accessible to More People (In More Ways) by Crafting Exceptional Direct Trade Coffee, With Intention, that Inspires Curiosity.

Based in Vancouver, British Columbia, 49th Parallel endeavours to sustainably source and craft exceptional coffee. We are a technologically advanced roastery with a science forward approach to the craft. We strive to collaborate with enthusiastic, satisfied customers while positively contributing to the health of local and global ecosystems. We do this through motivating, recognizing, and rewarding every part of the value network - viewing each of our partners as valued team members. From origin to our roaster, into cafés and kitchens, it is human togetherness in every part of the process that makes the coffee we represent possible. 

OUR VALUES

We Create Exceptional Specialty Coffee & Customer Experiences

We are Inclusive, Respectful, & Celebrate Teamwork

We Aspire to Positively Impact Coffee & our World

We are Curious & Adaptable

We are all Aligned to our Mission & Committed to Bringing it to Life

OUR ROASTERY

Our state of the art roasting facility is a coffee professional's dream. We currently roast coffee on five different roasters of various sizes and engineering. We have carefully collected these tools over the years to highlight different roasting techniques and accentuate different flavour profiles.

Roasting highlights the qualities inherent in the green coffee. Coffee is a drupe, a stone fruit and just like grapes for wine, there are thousands of different varieties growing in various regions around the world. No two coffees are the same and the potential for flavour complexity is immense. Our goal as a roaster is to work with individual varieties and express them in a delicious, balanced cup, showcasing each coffee’s unique qualities and characteristics.

QUALITY CONTROL TEAM

Our focus goes far beyond roasting and preparation, to the source of the raw material: the green coffee bean. Every coffee comes from a farm, and we want to provide the most direct link between our customers and that source. We want the tasting experience to be built around the knowledge of who grew the coffee, what variety, where on their farm, when it was harvested and how it got here.

Our offerings reflect the seasonality of coffee. Our in-house coffee buyer travels directly to farms to evaluate and select coffees. At cupping labs both at origin and in our roastery in Burnaby, each lot is carefully tasted and graded. Because we are working with seasonal harvests, each lot is limited in availability, and thus as fresh as possible. Our coffee menu changes throughout the year and each coffee is presented at its peak of flavour.

WHY REGENERATIVE FARMING?

Melanie: After a couple of tough years with low harvest yields, plague, and disease challenges, rising coffee prices, and the threat of climate change, you have to wonder if the approach we were taking was the right one. We have been very diligent, but we have not received the expected results. Around that time, we met some friends who discussed soil health, and we immediately took an online course. From there, we began learning about soil health, regenerative agriculture, nutrient dense foods, and wellness, and our path (and mindset) changed immediately.
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THE STORY

This is a very special regenerative lot from the historic Bella Carmona farm, owned and managed by the Zelaya family for four generations. Bella Carmona sits between volcanoes “Vulcan de Agua” and “Vulcan de Fuego”, near the city of Antigua. Coffees from Bella Carmona are processed at the nearby mill also owned by the Zelayas, Beneficio Bella Vista. Over the past three years Luis Pedro Zelaya and his team have been converting Bella Carmona to regenerative agriculture, harnessing nature to produce world class coffees. This bold and exciting transition has lead to a dramatic reduction in the use of synthetic inputs, and an increase in soil health, biodiversity and water conservation. Luis Pedro is planning to convert all of Bella Carmona and the rest of his farms to regenerative agriculture over the next few years. We are excited to be able to offer one of the first lots from Bella Vista's regenerative program.

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