TORONTO — Peter Pesce, expert coffee roaster and founder of Reunion Coffee Roasters, has been awarded the Coffee Industry Lifetime Achievement Award by the Coffee Association of Canada (CAC). This award is the CAC’s highest recognition for an individual whose contributions have created positive change and have had a significant, profound and lasting impact on the coffee community.
Pesce has been a driving force in the North America coffee business for more than 50 years and is a visionary in delivering specialty coffee sustainably.
“I’m honoured to receive the Coffee Association of Canada’s Lifetime Achievement Award,” says Pesce. “It’s truly a reflection of the hard work, dedication and passion that was made possible by many partners, friends and individuals along the supply chain. I’m fortunate to have people who believed in, and supported, my vision to produce a high-quality coffee at an affordable price, without sacrificing on sustainability.”
He entered the coffee industry with the launch of Bourbon Coffee, a speciality coffee roaster that operated in a small warehouse in Toronto. Bourbon was part of coffee’s second wave that swept through North America in the late ’70s and early ’80s. Second wave coffee was a movement marked by the introduction and popularization of speciality coffee and espresso-based drinks, and characterized by the rapid growth of chain coffee shops.
An early adopter of speciality roasting, Pesce earned a reputation as an expert cupper, a method of tasting coffee practiced by professionals to evaluate the attributes of a coffee and its quality. By 1986, Bourbon Coffee had grown to more than 21,000 sq. ft. and was the largest distributor of speciality coffee in Canada. Eventually, he sold the business in 1988 to a large Canadian corporation.
Pesce started Reunion Island Coffee (now Reunion Coffee Roasters) in 1995. The roaster began in the B2B space, supporting businesses across the GTA. It was housed in a 3,000-sq.-ft. facility in Mississauga, Ont. Today, Reunion Coffee Roasters is one of North America’s largest, and most sustainable, roasters of speciality coffee. Its 46,000-sq.-ft. roasting facility is based in Oakville, Ont. and supports the foodservice, hospitality, office coffee and retail sectors.
In 1995, Reunion deepened its focus on sustainability with the purchase of its first FairTrade and Organic coffees, becoming the first major roaster to use renewable energy through a partnership with Bullfrog Power. Pesce’s son, Adam, joined the business in 2006.
Reunion was one of the first Canadian Certified B-Corporations, a designation it’s held annually since 2013. It holds Rainforest Alliance, USDA Organic, FairTrade Canada and Direct Trade certifications on many of its products. The brand also supports numerous organizations including Grounds for Health, a partnership that has generated more than $41,000 to raise awareness and find solutions to treat cervical cancer for women in Ethiopia and Kenya; and Native Energy, a B-Corporation that has provided more than 4.4 million litres of clean drinking water to coffee growers in Honduras.
Pesce served three terms as Chairman of the CAC. Today, he’s the president of Reunion Coffee Roasters and continues to advocate for sustainability and transparency in the industry.
“I’m so proud of this incredible business that my father has built and it’s wonderful to see him receive this much-deserved recognition from the Coffee Association of Canada,” says Adam Pesce. “I carry forward his passion in making great tasting, sustainable coffee more accessible. Like my father, I see the potential in coffee to act as a force of good and look forward to continuing the work he started.”
