Joey Pittoello from Just Us! Coffee: Celebrating 30 Years of Fairtrade Canada
To celebrate 30 years of Fairtrade in Canada, we sat down with pioneers of the movement to hear the stories behind their businesses, learn about their relationships with farmers, and discover their hopes and dreams for the future.
This is Joey Pittoello, General Manager of Just Us! Coffee Roasters Co-op.
Just Us! Coffee Roasters Co-op has been a pioneer of the Fairtrade movement in Canada for almost three decades. Since its founding in 1995 (just one year after Fairtrade Canada’s founding in 1994!), the Nova Scotian cooperative has prioritized ethical sourcing, social justice, and sustainability. Today, Just Us! still showcases how a business can thrive while focusing on building community and staying true to its values.
A Mission-Driven Business From the Start
Just Us! was founded by Jeff Moore and his partner Debra after Jeff’s transformative trips to Cuba and Ethiopia in the early 90s, where he recognized the potential of fair trade to support communities and promote sustainable development.
Jeff and Debra wouldn’t have jumped into business if it hadn’t been for fair trade — they wouldn’t have sold anything conventionally. The sole purpose was social justice.
As one of the earliest Fairtrade licensees in Canada, Just Us! was committed to promoting ethical trade from the start. “We’ve kind of claimed to be the original Fairtrade Canada licensee, and nobody’s argued with us yet!” Joey jokes. The cooperative quickly became a key player in the Canadian Fairtrade landscape, helping to lay the foundation for ethical consumerism.
The team at Just Us! Coffee Roasters Co-op
Rooted in Togetherness
Much like the concept of Fairtrade, Just Us! is anchored in community. From its inception, the business was structured as a worker cooperative, intentionally designed to mirror the producer cooperatives it partners with, in South America and beyond. This approach not only strengthens internal bonds but also deepens the connection Just Us! has with its producer partners, aligning their goals and practices to create a shared mission.
The model was chosen very intentionally to align with the models of the producer cooperatives we work with. There’s a social fabric that gets woven stronger when you have a democratic process that happens day to day.
At Just Us!, every employee has a voice and a role in decision-making, creating a work environment that values collaboration and shared ownership. “It’s not just about business; it’s about people coming together, supporting each other, and learning as a community,” says Joey. “It’s a way to keep democracy real and practical. The people who work for our business learn a lot really quickly. It’s not for everybody, but I think it builds the skills we need more of in our civil society generally.”
Just Us! also adopted a 3-to-1 wage ratio model, ensuring nobody makes more than three times the lowest paid worker at the co-op. And if someone in a management role feels they should be making more? Then everyone’s salary has to shift. This model ensures that profits are distributed equitably, enabling the cooperative to allocate 10% of their earnings to producer partners, providing a buffer against market volatility.
Joey Pittoello and Janice Chipman visiting a family farm, September 2019
Supporting Farmers Amidst Challenges
Just Us!’s dedication to its partners goes beyond sourcing coffee — it’s about building long-term, supportive relationships. Recognizing the complex challenges farmers face, Joey explains, “Affordability and lack of power in the supply chain are huge. Inflation, in some cases, is even worse than what we’re experiencing in Canada. It’s leading to all the migration issues we’re seeing at the US border — there’s this squeeze that happens because they’re at the very beginning of the chain.”
In many cooperatives, women now run the farms as men migrate for work, often leaving them without support. “Some men are providing remittances, some haven’t been heard from in a long time — maybe they never made it,” Joey shares. Climate change also impacts these farmers severely, creating further instability.
Farmers are feeling the impact of climate change so drastically there. We’re seeing it here, but it’s not to the same degree of devastation and effect on livelihoods.
The growing monopolies in the industry compound these issues, so collaboration remains central to Just Us!’s approach. “There are less choices for producers — less companies to pay them and buy from them,” Joey explains. By partnering with like-minded small businesses, Just Us! amplifies its impact. “By yourself, you’ve got very little leverage, very little ability to convince a buyer from a big retail chain to even listen to you. But when Fairtrade International decided to put up that Minimum Price across the world, it had so much impact and created a fairer playing field.”
And what’s really important? Keeping connected and maintaining their relationships with producers, some built over 25 years. That’s what helps the Canadian cooperative respond to challenges as they arise.
Joey Pittoello visiting the Cooperativa Agraria Cafetelera Valle de Incahuasi in Peru, 2019
So, Joey, as Fairtrade Canada celebrates its 30 anniversary and Just Us! approaches theirs, what are your hopes and dreams for the next 30 years?
My hope is that, in 30 years, those of us who are dominated by more colonial and capitalist patterns of thinking and being have adopted more understanding and acceptance of Indigenous worldviews — a focus on relationships and our responsibility to one another over selling big volumes of a product. I hope that, 30 years from now, we can say that Fairtrade is the leader that helped us get there and that we’re seeing actual understanding of worldviews being put into practice.
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