Meet: The Authentic Seacoast Company
The Full Steam Coffee Company was born from a vision – to restore the proud trading legacy of a seacoast village in Nova Scotia and to create sustainable jobs in their community, by producing a fine cup of coffee. From their roaster on the historic Guysborough harbour, the Full Steam Coffee Company embodies the fresh sea air, industrious people and proud determination that has kept their seacoast village alive over the past four centuries.
We spoke to the friendly folks at Full Steam Coffee to learn why Guysborough is a great place to make coffee.
Why coffee? The vision behind Full Steam Coffee was to restore the 400-year trading history of a Nova Scotia seacoast village and create sustainable jobs for the community. For centuries, ships brought goods and people to the busy Guysborough harbour, making it a centre of commerce on Nova Scotia’s Eastern Shore. These were hardworking ships like the S.S. Malcolm Cann, which graces the front of every Full Steam Coffee bag. Today, we bring this proud trading legacy to life, importing the best organic, fair trade coffee beans from around the world and hand-roasting them in small batches in our state-of-the-art roasting facility.
Being organic is important to us. Located in one of the most pristine and least densely populated areas in Atlantic Canada, we want to protect our natural environment. Every bag of our coffee is certified organic by Pro-Cert so our Full Steam friends know they’re supporting healthy communities here in Nova Scotia and around the world.
Equally important to us is being a certified Fairtrade company. Being located in a region of the Maritimes hard hit by the decline of traditional industries, we’re proud to roast coffee that makes a difference in the lives of hardworking people here at home and around the world.
Why Guysborough? Guysborough is one of Canada’s oldest communities with a long and storied history of trade. Proprietor Glynn Williams saw Full Steam Coffee as an opportunity to take Guysborough to the world and share a proud legacy of an industrious and determined people that had kept this village alive for more than four centuries. The hardworking coastal steamer that connected communities along Nova Scotia’s Eastern Shore, the S.S. Malcolm Cann, became the inspiration for our company. With popular blends like our Perfect Storm dark roast, Louisbourg 1712 French roast and Fogarty’s Cove medium roast, we’re telling stories of our place, people and history.
What do you see as the biggest opportunity/advantage business owners have here in Nova Scotia? In today’s busy world, people are seeking authentic stories and experiences. Nova Scotia delivers that. Full Steam Coffee connects people to a way of life and a history that goes back centuries. It’s more than just a great cup of organic, fair trade coffee; it’s an opportunity to experience the best of Nova Scotia’s seacoast. It’s our commitment to the seacoast spirit that lives strong in all of us.
It’s companies like Authentic Seacoast Company that are breathing life into rural communities around Nova Scotia. With such richness of history and sense of community, Guysborough is wonderful place to call home. In addition to making great coffee, Authentic Seacoast Company also makes whisky, rum, beer, soaps, cake and a selection of other great gift items. This company truly does an exceptional job of blending stories of yesterday, with present day economic opportunity and prosperity.