Growing with Purpose: The Dispatch Coffee Story
From a single bike and a few jars of cold brew to cafés in two cities and customers nationwide, Dispatch Coffee has grown with one goal in mind: making specialty coffee transparent and accessible.
From Bike Deliveries to a Roastery
In 2012, barista Chrissy Durcak started biking around Montreal with jars of cold brew. After a decade working in Montreal's coffee scene, she'd seen enough. Most people treated coffee like a basic commodity, never thinking about where it came from or who grew it, while farmers got the smallest share of every cup sold.
Durcak saw potential for coffee to join the ranks of fine wine, with attention paid to growing conditions, processing methods, and the people behind it. So she started Dispatch with one product delivered by bike: cold brew made with traceable, ethical coffee. She worked from a coffee truck for two years, serving drinks at pop-ups and on Montreal streets. For a while, her truck was her office, her roastery, and her way to connect with the city.
In 2014, Chrissy partnered with Chris Durning to take on sourcing and roasting. Along with roaster Pat Latreille, they began buying coffee directly from small farms and cooperatives. Roasting their own coffee gave them control over quality and sourcing, allowing them to highlight sweetness and balance while ensuring farmers were paid fairly. Nearly half of those relationships now support women-led supply chains.
Because transparency has always been central to Dispatch, they added QR codes to every bag. Customers can scan it to learn where the coffee was grown, how it was processed, and who the people behind each cup are.
Expanding the Mission
Two years later, Dispatch opened its 1,800-square-foot flagship on Boulevard Saint-Laurent in the heart of Montreal. The café features an elevated seating area and what Durcak calls an "info desk," designed like an Apple Genius Bar, where customers can ask about coffee origins, supply chains, and brewing techniques at home.
By 2020, 73% of Dispatch's coffee came from smallholder farmers with 5 hectares or less. Working directly with producers has meant fair prices for farmers and transparency for customers. By 2022, online orders and subscriptions made up nearly half of Dispatch’s revenue, with Toronto becoming the second-largest market. That same year, they opened a café in Toronto’s financial district, offering in-store pickup and bicycle delivery.
Today, Dispatch has a team of more than 25, with cafés in Montreal and Toronto and customers across Canada. The mission remains the same: fair prices for farmers and coffee that’s easy to understand and easy to enjoy.