Our history
Before entering into the roasting business, Steve was an extraction specialist. Though his background was in importing and manufacturing, he grew up with an appreciation for good coffee.
The shift into the coffee market came when Steve gave 600 pounds of coffee to The Bean Time Café. At the time, the café was roasting specialty coffee in a 5-pound roaster.
When Steve approached The Bean Time Café in Ladysmith, they roasted a batch and loved it- as did the customers. Steve and Campbell decided to take a leap, and purchased a roaster in order to supply the café with the best coffee possible.
The roaster arrived in April 2009 and after months of restoration; the first beans were sold in September of the same year.
What really separates Gulf Islands Roasting Co from the pack is their vertical integration with a plantation in Thailand. Coffee is shipped directly from the farm and roasted into each batch of coffee.
After humble beginnings, The Bean Time Café now houses a roaster that supplies top of the line coffee to stores and cafes across Vancouver Island and the mainland. The Bean Time Café is located at 18 High Street in beautiful Ladysmith British Columbia.
Our Roaster
The Gulf Islands Rosting Company's roaster is a beautiful French built SASA SAMIAC. Since 1919 SASA SAMIAC has been constructing these high quality roasters.
The history of the roaster is fairly extensive and before arriving at its current location in Ladysmith BC, our roaster traveled from Paris to Ireland, Wales, and finally to Vancouver Island.
After being crated to Ladysmith BC, sight unseen, there was a problem. The once beautiful roaster had been stored in damp conditions and left to rust.
With countless hours of restoration and four months later the roaster was restored and fit for its new location inside the Bean Time Café.