A grocery store in Fleetwood is home to a new on-site environmentally sustainable coffee roasting cafe, the first of its kind in the country.
Fresh Cup has created the Roastery Cafe, located inside the Fresh St. Farms grocery store, which uses a unique closed loop air roasting system that produces near zero emissions – while using 20 times less energy than traditional gas-fired roasters.
The key to success, said Jim Townley, Fresh Cup Roastary Cafe president, was to allow customers to taste the coffee on-site in what most people would consider a standard coffee bar setting.
"Over the years of being in the coffee industry we decided there must be a better way to roast beans without the emissions and high energy usage," said Townley. "This product allows for artisan roasting to be done on-site in a cost-effective and small-footprint model, perfect for grocery."
The company's "Roastaire" captures all the same aromatic nuances as a traditional gas-fired drum roaster, Townley said.
Over the course of one year's roasting of 30,000 pounds of coffee, using the Roastaire translates into the energy savings equivalent of that consumed by eight single family homes.
The Fresh Cup Roastery Cafe is located inside Fresh St. Farms at 15930 Fraser Hwy. in Fleetwood.