About Us

Happy Goat Coffee starts with the small farmers of Africa, Asia, Central and South America. These small-scale farmers produce niche coffees and have distinct characteristics that connect to their local ecology. Small-scale farmers produce exceptional coffee beans which cater to niche artisan roasters like us. In contrast, mass market coffee roasters focus on uniformity and low cost. Mass market coffee producers undermines the market for specialty coffee which causes small farmers to go out of business and is killing the genetic diversity of the worlds coffee.

At Happy Goat Coffee we promote the niche coffee market by encouraging neighborhood based small batch coffee roasting, we also encourage people to home roast with easy to use home roasting machines.

Protecting and preserving small-scale farming through niche markets helps the environment, empowers small farmers and their local economies while maintaining the world's store of genetic diversity. Just as importantly, freshly roasted coffee bean creates superior coffee.

Artisan Coffee Roaster and Owner Pierre Richard, has been fascinated with the world of coffee for many years. He is diligent, creative and has a great love for coffee. He is meticulous, and will go that extra mile to make sure you are more than just satisfied.

He is passionate and knowledgeable force behind Happy Goat. He talks about coffee with an interest and dedication that goes far beyond your average coffee junkie. Coffee is an art to him, the man is an alchemist who can turn simple beans into coffee gold.

You could say that Pierre's roasting style is unique in the coffee industry by bringing back the old artisan touch, by taking a hands-on approach with every step to discover and preserve the true nature of coffee. He takes freshness and small-batch roasting to the extreme. This way you are guaranteed the highest standards in freshness and quality unsurpassed anywhere else.

Did You Know?

We seem to think that coffee beans have an eternal shelf life. Well, it's not so. There's a significant difference in taste between beans roasted a couple of days ago and those roasted last month. Vacuum packing and one-way valves only do so much. Technology can't improve freshness. Most of the coffee we drink on a daily basis is stale. This is because as soon as coffee beans are roasted, they begin to deteriorate. The enemies of coffee are extreme temperatures (hot or cold), air, light, moisture, and strong odours. If stored properly, your coffee will stay fresh for 12 days to 20 days, dependant on coffee origin and roasting style.

Our Mission

We aim to offer you the highest quality artisan, fairly traded organic coffee from around the world, custom roasted to suit your palate. We guarantee the freshest coffee every time.

Our Values

Encouraging and maintaining fair trade practices.
Creating and selling the highest quality products for our customers
Providing education about coffee to our customers and employees
Being environmentally responsible by reducing waste through composting and recycling
Participating in community building
Creating a work environment that promotes inclusiveness as well as physical and mental well being

Direct Trade

We want to work directly with coffee growers to help improve the quality of their coffee. By paying growers or cooperatives (not exporters) a 25% premium over fair trade prices. We would also closely monitor what growers are doing and the impact of these efforts, which requires a hefty commitment in terms of time/travel/education/etc.. And we would expect growers or cooperatives to commit to "sustainable" social and environmental practices.

To trade fairly and directly with small-scale producers in developing countries, offering our customers ethical choices. This system focuses on creating direct relationships with individual farmers. The advantages to this are higher prices paid to producers than global Fair Trade prices (since operational costs of having a third party certifier are removed), and higher control over coffee quality (since coffee roasters are able to choose specific farmers and crops of coffee rather than accepting a blend from a fair trade co-operative.)

What's the big difference between Fair Trade and Direct Trade? For one, we want to work directly with family-owned farms (which Fair Trade doesn't do). But, the main difference may come down to this: direct trade cuts out the fair-trade middleman

A few coffee roasters, most notable Intelligentsia in Chicago and Counter Culture in Durham, have made it their mission to find the world’s most flavorful coffees AND pay top dollar for them. These roasters seek out and develop personal trade relationships with growers. By buying direct trade coffee, coffee connoisseurs can get the highest quality coffee while coffee growers can and do demand a high price for their exceptional beans. Moreover, you, coffee drinker, can sip your java while enjoying the knowledge that the roaster can personally vouch for the labor and environmental conditions at the coffee farm that grew your morning brew.