Roaster of the Year: Micro Category Winner 2023—Rabbit Hole Roasters
By Emily Puro
Typically, a mission statement is just that—a statement that declares a company’s purpose and how it will serve its customers. But Rabbit Hole Roasters, Roast’s 2023 Micro Roaster of the Year, is anything but typical. Instead, the Montreal-based company’s mission consists of two questions that guide its strategy and operations: “Why do we deserve to take up space in this industry?” and “How can we occupy that space in a meaningful way?”
As co-founder David Lalonde puts it, “If we take that space, maybe it means someone else can’t take it, so are we worthy of the work we are doing?”
Doing Coffee Differently
Before opening Rabbit Hole with co-founder Sophie Moreau in 2018, Lalonde worked for a few other roasters, helping develop their green coffee programs. In 2016, he and fellow entrepreneur Chris Capell opened the Montreal Coffee Academy, teaching amateur baristas how to brew coffee at home. Moreau, who at the time was thinking of opening a cafe, met Lalonde when she took a class at the academy. When they realized their values and vision for what a coffee company could look like aligned, they teamed up to open Rabbit Hole.
Advertisement
