Yes it has been 6 months since my last post here on our blog. Have I been neglecting the cyberspace forum, Yes! After getting kicked off of Face Book back in April (for adding to many friends, go figure) I have been feeling down about writting here in the cyberspace world. But on a positive note I have been working hard at our coffee roasting facility in Rothesay and out in the actual person to person foums.
Red Whale has a lot of exciting projects cooking and I will be posting here on a regular basis again.

Its official Red Whale Coffee Company is on Face Book and is Facing away. Look for us and Face Book us. We are posting information about upcoming events and pictures and other STUFF!!!

Cheers,
Red Whale

Here @ the Red Whale we try and do things a little differently. Our intentions are to try and make a difference in the world by supporting initiatives that will make a positive impact on peoples lives locally and globally. One of these initiatives is Cafe Femenino. When I first saw this group in Seattle 2005 I was thoroughly impressed with its initiative and goals. Most of the countries that we buy coffee from are male dominated. In many of these countries you hear time and time again about women being demeaned, abused and looked at with a lower worth. But at the same time the vast majority of these women are the first to rise and the last to bed and are caring for the next generations of the future and at the same time left to fend for themselves and their children. We as a society should stop and look at these global situations and try and make a change for the better.
Here at the Red Whale we believe that everyone should benefit from the fruits of their labours including the women and children of these countries. Cafe Femenino is making a difference and Red Whale believes in the efforts of self-empowerment through sustainability not subsidies.

We should all take a step back and thank our mothers and the women and children in our lives.

Thank You Mom, Dawn & Catherine I love you.

Are we in control of our own destiny? “Supporting Local Business is the Trend”, this is not a big surprise to me. I practice this as much as possible and teach my daughter the to do the same. In the day and age of Mcfast food, big Wall box stores and instant gratification, supporting local business is the way to go.
By buying products made in other far off provinces or buying goods made over seas we are taking those monies from the local areas and sending it elsewhere. Where is the benefit in this? I see this happening time and time again.
Take for example our heath care system; the food that is supplied to all of the hospitals here in New Brunswick is supplied from out side of this province…? This makes no sense to me at all. Not only is the food not healthy, its gross. But even bigger, the province is sending these jobs to other provinces. New Brunswick could benefit from having a production kitchen right here in our own province. This could be huge! Not only could it supply the hospitals with better quality foods but also quality hot meals for children at our schools.
This one is a favorite of mine, coffee. Is it really about those rebates or is about producing a great meal and finishing it off with a great cup of coffee? Time after time we are seeing fine to good restaurants selling the same coffee that you can get at the corner gas station? I ask myself every time I come across this does this make sense? I say No!
We have great people and great products right here in the Maritimes and we should be looking locally first. I like the slogan that Moose Head used for Alpine beer “You Can Only get it here!”.
So the next time you are in that big box store or you are ordering products from your supplier and it is manufactured in a far off province or somewhere outside our country, ask yourself could get a like product or better quality product, produced right here in the Maritimes?

The heading to this post almost sounds like a story. The Red Whale definitely has a story. We are asked all the time “How did you or why did you come up with the Red Whale?” The answer is actually really simple……”Would you remember it?” “Yes” is usually the answer. We developed the Red Whale to be identifiable by all ages and I mean all ages. We wanted a 2 year old or a 90 year old and everyone in-between to be able to look up and say “Red Whale”. Further to being recognizable we want the Red Whale to represent and be known for “Quality” in what ever we do.

Everyday has its challenges but we love to come to work and we love what we do!

“Passion” do you have it?

The Red Whale

P.S. The story will continue!

I read something from a local rag “Here” the other day saying that here in Saint John possibly the best cup of coffee this journalist had had was coffee from a pod and from a local bakery. Now the bakery I would agree is a great place and has great baked goods, but coffee from a pod? Duho! I cant imagine that this journalist has been to the Red Whale yet. But coffee from a pod! Thats like saying Wounder Bread is better than a fresh loaf of bread. Coffee is like Bread the fresher it is the better it is, so keep that in mind, when you have your next cup of non Red Whale Coffee. Just a little Rant……

What do you think, could Red Whale Coffee be some of the best roasted and brewed coffee & espresso in New Brunswick?
We have had our little hiccups and training employees is always a big challenge. Maintaining consistency is the biggest challenge of all. Red Whale is constantly sampling and testing new coffees and current inventoried coffee’s. Red Whale Coffee is based on quality and we strive for it in every step and in every cup.

Happy New Year from the Red Whalers!

We have had a couple of hurdles in the last couple of weeks and they have been brought to our attention. I would like to thank the people who did brings these problems to our attention because if they had not we might not of had a chance to react and take care of them.

Problems that we had:

1. Coffee grinder broke and I fixed it but the grind changed and made it very course and I did not notice it until it was brought to my attention a couple of days later. The outcome of the grind being to course was the coffee tasted week and was under extracted…Yuk!! This is why we do what we and strive for the perfect cup of coffee and its a never ending pursuit.

2. Veggie wrap wet. First day we made the wraps and we found out that they get soggy fast.

Again thank you to the people who brought these items to our attention.

Well over the last 2 weeks we have had several days of heat and today was no exception. We had been promised by Phil Brodersen that the air conditioner would be replaced with a new one over 4 weeks ago. The new unit was supposed to be able to handle the space here at the Red Whale. But we are still waiting for the new air conditioner system and now the air system has frozen up 3 times in the last 2 weeks and is still running all day and all night to try and cool our space off (I am not going to enjoy seeing the NB Power bill). The temp inside today was a nice warm 82 degrees. Dawn who has been doing all the fine baking had to deal with the heat and was not to happy and did not feel very well either. Since we have opened the air system has not worked and still is not.

On a happier note: this last weekend we were invited to the Dragon Boat races here in Rothesay and it was great. Thanks to Beth for the last minute invitation and a great time. The Dragon Boat races reminded me of when I paddled outrigger in Hawaii on the Big Island.

We have some new coffee’s coming in the next couple of weeks, so keep an eye out for them.

We are still trying to work out a solution for our Interact. We should have that resolved soon.

As for the Loyalty Rewards program we have been going back and forth back and forth with the software provider Com Cash and hopefully we will have that worked out soon.

We will be putting up a community bulletin board for the obvious reason…….for the community

We will also be setting up a calendar of events for the upcoming months. Keep tuned for that one.

September will be a busy month full of events and new comings.

Cheers for now,
Sean Boyd
Red Whale Coffee Company

Hi Red Whale,

Now I have tasted the best coffee in the world. Gillian, who was visting her
daughter and friend Jenifer, brought back some of your ‘Guatemla Antigua’
for me along with a T-Shirt which everyone is trying to get from me.

The next time I go down home, I will certainly drop in to fill my cup. All
the best in the future.

Jim Netzel