2024 in Review: Highwood Coffee’s Yearly Highlights & Insights

Introduction:
As the year comes to a close, we at Highwood Coffee want to take a moment to reflect on what 2024 brought for us and our amazing community of coffee lovers. From navigating the ever-changing coffee market to celebrating your support, it’s been a year of growth, learning, and exciting developments.

Who We Are

For those discovering us for the first time, welcome! Highwood Coffee is a family-run specialty coffee roaster based in Calgary, Alberta. We’re passionate about sourcing exceptional beans, roasting them to perfection, and delivering them fresh to your door. With free local delivery, an 8-week freshness guarantee, and a commitment to sustainability through initiatives like renewable energy from Bullfrog Power and Terracycle recycling, we strive to offer more than just great coffee—we offer a better coffee experience.

2024 Business Highlights

1. Sales Growth
   This year, our coffee sales grew steadily, thanks to the incredible support of our loyal customers and new faces joining our community. Whether you picked up a bag at a market or subscribed to our 2lb monthly delivery, you’ve made our dream of bringing better coffee to Calgary possible.

2. New Markets
   We continued attending local farmers markets, including the Hillhurst Sunnyside Winter Market, which brought us closer to more coffee lovers in the city. These events aren’t just about sales—they’re about connecting with our community, sharing samples, and learning what you love most.

3. Fresh Roasts & Farewells
   This year saw the introduction of some fantastic roasts, including new single origins and blends. We also said goodbye to Dark Sky, a fan-favorite, as the Sumatra bean is no longer available. But don’t worry—a new dark roast is on the horizon for 2025!

The Coffee Market in 2024

It’s no secret that the coffee industry has faced challenges this year.

• Coffee Futures: The global coffee commodity market saw a forecasted price increase of around 12% due to weather impacts and production challenges. Rather end of year increases were up 72%. (https://tradingeconomics.com/commodity/coffee) Now we don’t necessarily purchase beans this way but what it does say is pricing is going up at the auctions. Co-op’s and farmers alike use auctions to get the best price for them the farmer. This is how we buy coffee. if the price goes up we pay the current market pricing.

• Shipping Costs: With a 21% rise in container shipping costs, expenses for green coffee beans and supplies have been higher than ever.

• Our Commitment: Despite these rising costs, we’ve worked hard to keep our prices competitive while maintaining the exceptional quality you’ve come to expect. You will notice we have priced our coffee just under Fratello. We think our coffee is right in there for quality.

Looking Ahead to 2025

1. New Packaging
   We’re in the design process for fresh new packaging to launch in Spring 2025. It’s modern, sustainable, and designed with you in mind. We’d love your input—watch for mock-ups coming soon!

2. Expanded Local Delivery
   We’re excited to announce that in 2025, we’ll be expanding our free delivery service to include Cochrane, Airdrie, and Okotoks. Stay tuned for more details on this rollout.

3. Sustainability Initiatives
   Sustainability remains at the heart of what we do, from recycling coffee bags to minimizing our carbon footprint with bicycle deliveries wherever possible.

4. 2025 Roasting

   Sara and I will be taking the kids on a short week long vacation from Jan 25 to Feb 01 so we plan to run lean on stock before we roast some more. i’m also working with my consultant still on a new version of our dark sky as our Indonesian Sumatra bean is no longer available. So In February we plan to have a new dark roast label. Until then, we have lots of the Tajumulco(small bag), Foothills decaf, Mountain roast(small bag) for sale. One additional note is while we leave on vacation the shop portion of the site will be turned off. Rest assured we’ll be back Feb. 01 and getting you the coffee you need & want.

A Heartfelt Thank You

To our customers, friends, and supporters—thank you. Whether you’ve been with us from the start or just joined us this year, your trust in Highwood Coffee means the world to us. Every delivery, market chat, and kind review fuels our passion for roasting the best coffee Calgary has to offer.

From our family to yours, we wish you a joyful 2025!