Just Us! is a corporation that imports, roasts and sells primarily organic coffee from fair traded certified coffee producers. Their vision is: “to be a leading Fair Trade business that builds on quality, professionalism and innovation for the benefit of all our stake holders. Since its inception, Just Us! had experienced healthy growth in the maritime provinces of Canada, mainly supported by its corporate values: social and environmental responsibility, sustainability, ethical practices in all the areas of the business and in all stakeholders, and product differentiation. They even opened a fair trade museum to help educate the public on the social impact and benefits of fair trade.
Once roasted and packed, the coffee and other products are shipped to retail outlets, supermarket chains, health food stores, coffee shops and churches. A substantial portion of Just Us! revenues came from wholesaling to large retail stores such as supermarket chains. Their coffee is also offered in the Just Us cafes, which were meant to be a place where customers could enjoy a cup of premium fair trade coffee and gather information about fair trade. The locations were not standardized as a typical chain.
A major competitor in the retail organic fair trade coffee market is Kicking Horse which also offers products that are certified organic and fair traded. Its main channels are: coffee shops, gourmet food stores, grocery chains and restaurants. The growth of fair trade product sales had prompted several major food brands to offer fair trade products, such as: Kraft Foods, Procter & Gamble and Nestle. Also, in Canada, large super market chains such as Loblaws were offering also fair traded private labeled products which was concerning for Just Us, since supermarkets is one of its most important channels. In the coffee shop area, there was a lot of competition since some independent coffee shops and well-known chains (Ex. Starbucks) were trying to tap into the