In 1989, a young Pierre Capy worked in the field of interior landscape, installing and maintaining Ficus trees in malls. One day, he walked up to a coffee shop in in Cambridge, Massachusetts and ordered a regular coffee expecting nothing more than his daily pick-me-up. Within two weeks he had quit his job and began working at that café – The Coffee Connection in Harvard Square.
After spending two years working for specialty coffee guru George Howell, Pierre got an early jump on the rapid proliferation of coffee shops, opening a shop serving Coffee Connection coffee in his hometown of Brattleboro. When the Coffee Connection was sold to Starbucks in 1994, Pierre began roasting his own beans, and Mocha Joe’s Roasting Company was born.
Over 20 years later, Mocha Joe’s Café remains an iconic downtown business. Mocha Joe’s Roasting Company now has over 100 wholesale customers throughout the Northeast, and a talented staff of 7, all committed to the science and craft of great coffee. An industry leader in social responsibility, we offer a variety of high quality, certified Organic, Fair Trade, and Rainforest Alliance coffees, and have Direct Alternative programs in Cameroon, Guatemala, and Bolivia. We believe that healthy ecosystems and sustainable economic relationships in coffee producing regions are essential to producing the quality coffees we serve here in Vermont.