The story
The business began as a coffee roastery in New Minas. Just Us! was the first fair trade coffee roaster in Canada, starting a movement that lead to many other fair trade roasters in Canada. The business is a worker-owned cooperative, a decision inspired by the producer co-ops in Mexico from which Just Us! sources its coffee.
Rather than using the charity model to support farmers in the Global South, Just Us! partners with producers to offer them more control.
In 2000, Just Us! relocated to a larger facility in Grand Pré, Nova Scotia. Fair trade remains the main focus of the business. Just Us! has extended its product line to include chocolate, teas, and sugar and expanded operations to include a fair trade chocolate factory in Grand Pré, Nova Scotia. Just Us! has two cafés in Wolfville, Nova Scotia, and Grand-Pré, Nova Scotia, and wholesales to many cafés, restaurants, and grocery stores across Atlantic Canada. They also sell their products on their online store.
Just Us! also has a partner program, through which it shares resources to assist other local businesses in areas such as creating a co-op or opening a café.
In 2017, during Canada's celebration of the 150th anniversary of its confederation, Just Us! put up a road sign and posted on social media stating, "Canada 150, Mi'kmaki 13000" to bring attention to the struggles of Indigenous peoples living in Canada.
From Wikipedia’s article on Just Us!, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4