With an increased focused on supporting innovative agricultural pursuits in the region, Lethbridge College is pleased to announce today the creation of the Canadian Centre for Excellence and Innovation in Far Northern Hemisphere Coffee Bean Cultivation (CCEIFNHCBC).
This state-of-the-art program harnesses the college’s expertise and innovation in agricultural research and benefits significantly from the support of three outstanding founding community partners and alumni: Paul DeMaere (Business Administration 1994, Environmental Science 1998) and Jacqueline DeMaere (Renewable Resource Management 1998), owners of Lethbridge’s Red Engine Coffee Roasters; and Cory Medd (Business Administration – Marketing 2000), owner of Lethbridge’s award-winning Two Guys and a Pizza Place, which proudly serves Red Engine coffee.
Caffeine consumption by students and staff on campus as well as the demands of many alumni working in fields that require extensive access to coffee at all hours of the day and night (including Nursing, Criminal Justice, Culinary, Agriculture, Early Childhood Education and more) were one of the many driving factors in the creation of the cutting-edge Canadian coffee bean cultivation centre.
For alumnus Paul DeMaere, the opportunity to be a part of CCEIFNHCBC was too good to pass up.
"We at Red Engine Coffee Roasters are really excited to collaborate with Lethbridge College on this project as it will change the coffee industry as we know it,” said DeMaere. “As coffee growing regions are generally restricted between the tropics of Capricorn and Cancer, the ability to work with these new cultivars outside those geographical boundaries is a game changer.
“As coffee is the second most traded commodity, next to oil, and with markets emerging in both China and India, this may be the innovation needed to keep up with worldwide demand,” added DeMaere. “Agriculturally speaking, for the coffee producers here in Canada, the export market potential could grow exponentially as a specialty crop."
Gina Funicelli, Dean of Applied Research and Innovation, explained that researchers and students will focus their initial research efforts on mimicking on the elevation, geography and climatology seen in traditional coffee growing climates. “The unique mineral makeup of the coulees could help Lethbridge College succeed in this emerging field of research, especially when it comes to taste and flavour profiles, where other far northern hemisphere coffee cultivation research has been unsuccessful,” she added.
Medd added that: “Two Guys Pizza is thrilled to be a part of this exciting collaboration. We proudly support local businesses and producers offering quality products whenever and wherever possible. With CCEIFNHCBC, we can start concentrating efforts on the coffee bean – it may just become the next major industry for job creation in Lethbridge and Alberta!”
The college has been working with the founding partners to build CCEIFNHCBC since April 1, 2015, noted Dr. Paula Burns, Lethbridge College President and CEO. “Having local industry partners and alumni such as Paul, Jacqueline and Cory involved in the centre is essential to its success,” she said. “It shows a commitment to serving and using locally produced products and really makes a complete, sustainable circle, with the college cultivating and producing the coffee beans, Red Engine processing them and Two Guys – as well as our own food services here on campus – serving these quality products, all right here in Lethbridge.”
The college is launching the #CoffeeNorth campaign on social media today to bring awareness to the fledgling far northern hemisphere coffee cultivation scene. Supporters of this new centre and coffee cultivated north of the Tropic of Cancer are encouraged to share their best coffee stories on Twitter and Facebook throughout the day using the hashtag #CoffeeNorth.
“This is a great day in Lethbridge College’s history,” said Dr. Burns. “The creation of CCEIFNHCBC is just one more way the college is meeting its mission of inspiring and facilitating learning and innovation to meet economic and social need. And so many of us have the need to enjoy good coffee.
“Oh, and Happy April Fool’s,” Burns added as she filled her second cup of the day.