North Bench Harvest – Located in the North Bench in Golden, B.C. Amelie Goulet-Boucher, age 42, roasts coffee for the community that is ethically grown on women-owned farms.
Amelie sources organic, fair-trade coffee and brings it to Golden, where she roasts the beans into six different offerings. She brings a unique expression through her coffee by contributing to bettering the lives of women who own and operate coffee bean farms in places like Rwanda, Columbia, Mexico, and Guatemala.
“I’m passionate about coffee,” she says, explaining her passion began on a rainy camping trip with her family when she was six years old, and she tried her stepmom’s coffee.
“It was the best,” she says and describes how it was made with lots of sugar and cream. After that experience, she says, throughout high school she loved coffee shop culture in Quebec where she is from. She worked as a barista throughout university and started roasting beans when a friend brought back a pack of green coffee beans from Costa Rica.
“I did a lot of things to roast them,” she says, laughing as she remembers the first few times she started roasting coffee.
“There’s a brainy aspect to it. With the temperature, airflow and chemistry side of it,” she says.
“I’m not an artist; it feels like an expression setting the parameters to take out the best notes of the coffee bean. It’s interesting and challenging and expensive if you mess it up,” she says, adding, “At the end of the day, the big goal for me is to roast the bean to bring out the best notes.”
After a climbing trip to Greece, where Amelie was surprised to learn about the coffee culture, she was diagnosed with an auto-immune disease. She decided she would refocus her career from being a climbing guide to taking the steps to become a coffee roaster. She bought a roaster and began to create a variety of roasts.
“I started to take it very seriously and there was lots of learning involved,” she says. She gravitated to women-owned farms to find organic, fair-trade beans.
“I source fair-trade, organic, ethically produced beans from women-owned companies as much as I can. Women have a different level of management and contingencies on the environment. I’ve found farms that have permacultures and sanctuaries and don’t use deforestation – it’s actually good for the environment,” Amelie says of the producers she works with and of coffee farms.
According to a post on Carolina Coffee Roasters titled, “Empowering change; women-owned coffee farms around the world,” Arika Massey writes:
“Women are vital to the coffee supply chain, often responsible for up to 70% of the labour involved in planting, harvesting, and processing coffee. Despite this, they own less than 20% of coffee farms globally and rarely have access to the same resources as their male counterparts. This disparity limits opportunities for women to lead and innovate in an industry that relies heavily on their contributions.
Women-owned coffee farms are working to change this narrative by creating equitable opportunities and showcasing the value of female leadership in agriculture. These farms are proving that empowering women has a ripple effect, improving not only the quality of coffee but also the social and economic well-being of entire communities.”
Amelie, and her partner, Kyle Chartrand, age 47, created a mission to support this cause through North Bench Harvest. Amelie says she feels it is her way to contribute to an important cause.
“I was eight or nine when I first heard about International Women’s Day,” she says, adding, “It feels like we’re fine in Canada. We’ve come such a long way. Women’s rights are under constant threat.”
“I’ve always felt that at my core and never really had a way to participate and help. My partner and I try our best and it’s nice to see people gravitate towards that,” she says, explaining many people are showing appreciation and support for women-owned coffee farms by buying their products.
“It opens the door for conversations,” she says.
“I’m proud we’re doing that,” she says.
“I couldn’t do it without my partner, Kyle. He helps with the marketing and technical side of things and has supported me overall,” Amelie says.
Currently, North Bench Harvest provides coffee for purchase at Eat Pure Mountain Market, The Art Gallery of Golden, the Golden Artisan Co-op, Daley Bread, Vagabond Lodge and Eleven 22 Restaurant.
North Bench Harvest offers six different roasts from light to dark, decaf and espresso. On its packaging is a logo of a bear with representations of coffee beans, nature and symbolizing strength.
According to its website, North Bench Coffee Harvest describes its logo, specifically, the bear, “as a representation of the natural part of the landscape in the Golden area.”
“The cultural significance of the bear is deeply rooted in numerous civilizations across the globe. In many Indigenous cultures, bears are revered as powerful and sacred beings, symbolizing qualities such as strength, courage, protection and wisdom.”
Find North Bench Harvest at the upcoming Farmer’s Market on April 16, and weekly throughout the summer months in Golden, BC and Invermere, BC.
