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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.
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