The final meeting of 2019 of New Horizons took place on Thursday, December 12th with 40 people in attendance at the Maryhill Heritage Park Community Centre. Edward Denyer is the owner of Eco-Coffee and is the chairman of the Business Association for St. Jacobs. He spoke on “Nothing makes Sense before Coffee.” He had also brought some fair-trade coffee for purchase which was ideal for Christmas giving.
He came to Waterloo Region in the early 2000 from the US and founded Eco-Coffee in 2003 and soon after began a cafe operations at the Kitchener Market. The company soon evolved into more than a cafe and roasting operation and Office Coffee Solutions was developed. Roasting services was also expanded and a larger warehouse facility was created in Kitchener. In 2015 the opportunity to start a new business in St. Jacobs came about and resulted in a coffee house that reflects Ed’s passion for coffee and service that respects the environment and provides the best quality in production.
Coffee grows all over the world with 120 species of coffee having been identified to date. Coffee has never been better than today. This is due to the scientific knowledge of the various growers. Growers and those involved in coffee producing have a social responsibility and must be educated in areas of organic, fair trade, rainforest, alliance and direct trade. Coffee plants require seven years of growing time. Coffee is most often picked by hand with the berries being a deep red colour for picking. Once the coffee plant grows it will produce for about 20 years.
In 2019 Ed and a staff member traveled to Rwanda, Africa to attend a Coffee Conference. This was an exceptional conference in many ways! He was impressed with the general feeling of warmth, hospitality, generosity and wisdom, despite the horrendous devastation of the Rwanda Genocide. He witnessed first hand the healing and recovering of the country and it’s peoples. This tragedy killed a large number of the male population, making the women the main employees. The women work and manage the coffee fields and are empowered by this and are very successful in this endeavour. Ed plans to do an exchange and have one of the women come to Canada to see his business and exchange ideas.
Ed generously donated coffee for door prizes. Those attending say they will appreciate their cups of coffee even more now that they know the effort put into it’s production.
Next meeting will be on Thursday, January 9th, 2010. New Horizons meet every 2nd Thursday from 10 – 11:30 a.m. at the Maryhill Heritage Park Community Centre. Admission is $2 with refreshments and delicious snacks made by Sandra Hachborn. Next guest speaker is Ken Dowling and his topic will be The West Montrose Covered Bridge, Spanning Seven Generations.
For more information please contact Joan Haid at (519) 648-2742 or email jehaid@netflash.net
