# Bridgehead Coffee > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Bridgehead_Coffee > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Bridgehead_Coffee.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bridgehead_Coffee > Source revision: 1285655104 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) **Bridgehead** is a [fair trade](/source/Fair_trade) [coffeehouse](/source/Coffeehouse), coffee retailer, and coffee roaster chain based in [Ottawa](/source/Ottawa), [Ontario](/source/Ontario), Canada. In addition to coffee and organic teas, it sells soups, salads, sandwiches and snacks made in its own kitchen.[1] In November 2006, Bridgehead was voted Ottawa's "Best Coffee/Tea House" by readers of lifestyle weekly *[Ottawa XPress](/source/Ottawa_XPress)*.[2] ## History Bridgehead was formed in [Toronto](/source/Toronto), [Ontario](/source/Ontario), originally as Bridgehead Trading, in 1981, by two United Church ministers and two social activists who were concerned with small-scale coffee farmers in [Nicaragua](/source/Nicaragua).[3] Bridgehead was the first company to offer Canadian consumers fairly traded coffee, as a group of volunteers sold coffee from the basements of churches in Toronto. The business grew rapidly and was soon acquired by Oxfam Canada in 1984.[3] Under [Oxfam Canada](/source/Oxfam_Canada), Bridgehead became a formally incorporated, for-profit company. Oxfam Canada's aim was not to focus on the coffee that Bridgehead was funded and grew from, but to bring in a more diverse fair-trade product line. This eventually led to a decrease in profits and eventually a dip into losses.[3] A profile of Bridgehead's post-Oxfam management in the [Ottawa Citizen](/source/Ottawa_Citizen) claimed that Oxfam Canada's Bridgehead ultimately failed in the mid-1990s due in part to a "lack of sound business practices."[4] In May 1998, Bridgehead was acquired by [Shared](/source/Shared_Interest) Interest. This U.K. based lending society held the Bridgehead name in hopes of finding a buyer. Shared Interest only needed to hold the name for a year as in 1999; an offer arrived from Tracey Clark.[3] Clark wanted to restore Bridgehead to its former status as a fair-trade coffee and tea company. In April 2000, Bridgehead Inc. was formed, and on June 17, 2000, the first Bridgehead Coffeehouse opened at 362 Richmond Road in [Westboro](/source/Westboro,_Ottawa), Ottawa, Ontario.[3] Clark originally relied on financing from family and friends, but by 2002, Bridgehead was owned by 30 investors.[5] Also in 2002, Clark opened a central kitchen to serve Bridgehead's line of food products.[6] Bridgehead expanded from one outlet in 2000[7] to nine by 2008,[8] and currently operates twenty outlets, requiring the company to provide calorie counts for all of its food products.[9][10] June 2012 marked the opening of Bridgehead's own roastery, which is now where all of the coffee that is sold by the company is roasted.[3] A further development is the introduction of alcohol to Bridgehead's beverage lineup. In July 2015, According to the reports, Bridgehead Coffee opened a 1,850-square-foot location in a six-storey office at the corner of Pinecrest road and Iris Street.[11] As of September 2015, select Bridgehead locations began to offer beer from local breweries Beau's and Beyond the Pale, as well as wine and coffee-inspired cocktails.[12] In 2017, Bridgehead began working with Carleton University's Mass Spectrometry Centre to uncover answers about how coffee beans age on a cellular level.[13] In December 2019, the company announced it was being sold to Aegis Brands, parent company of the [Second Cup](/source/Second_Cup) coffee chain. In January of 2024, Aegis sold the Bridgehead brand to Pilot Coffee Roasters.[14] ## See also - [List of coffeehouse chains](/source/List_of_coffeehouse_chains) ## References 1. [Coffee Houses](https://www.bridgehead.ca/en/AboutUs/coffeehouses.asp). [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20130823221153/http://www.bridgehead.ca/en/AboutUs/coffeehouses.asp) 2013-08-23 at the Wayback Machine Bridgehead website. Retrieved August 13, 2007. 1. ["Ottawa Xpress, 23 November 2006 (The annual "Best of Ottawa" issue)"](https://web.archive.org/web/20070221222830/http://www.ottawaxpress.ca/dossier/bestof/bestof2006.aspx?iIDArticle=10883). Archived from [the original](http://www.ottawaxpress.ca/dossier/bestof/bestof2006.aspx?iIDArticle=10883) on 21 February 2007. Retrieved 26 November 2006. 1. ["History"](https://web.archive.org/web/20151021204500/http://www.bridgehead.ca/pages/history). *www.bridgehead.ca*. Archived from [the original](https://www.bridgehead.ca/pages/history) on 2015-10-21. Retrieved 2015-11-12. 1. Chianello, Joanne (2002) "Bridgehead bounces back: Sticking to your ethics can work as long as the business plan is based on more than good intentions" in Ottawa Citizen [\[1\]](http://www.ottawacitizen.ca) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20130731203814/http://ottawacitizen.ca/) 2013-07-31 at the Wayback Machine (May 4, 2002), p.H1, H4. 1. Chianello, 2002:H4 1. ["At 10,000 cups a day and counting, Bridgehead branches out"](https://ottawacitizen.com/life/food/at-10000-cups-a-day-and-counting-bridgehead-branches-out). *Ottawa Citizen*. Retrieved January 11, 2019. 1. Cook, Gay (2000) "Bridgehead Offers Coffee with a Difference" in Ottawa Citizen (July 12, 2000) 1. Bridgehead.ca "Locations" at [http://www.bridgehead.ca/en/AboutUs/locations.asp](http://www.bridgehead.ca/en/AboutUs/locations.asp) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20070608060448/http://www.bridgehead.ca/en/AboutUs/locations.asp) 2007-06-08 at the Wayback Machine [\[2\]](http://www.bridgehead.ca/en/AboutUs/locations.asp) 1. ["After posting calorie counts, Bridgehead sees customers changing their orders"](https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/bridegehead-calorie-counts-menu-1.4110760). *CBC News*. Retrieved 2019-01-15. 1. Bridgehead (4 August 2015). "Iris and Greenbank is now open! Come and visit our 16th store on its opening day. Hats off to Jen & everyone making this happen!!". No. 628551215996084224. 1. ["Bridgehead to open shop near Ikea, adds licensed patio to the mix"](https://ottawacitizen.com/business/local-business/bridgehead-adds-new-location-near-ikea-adds-licensed-patio-to-the-mix). *Ottawa Citizen*. 2015-07-27. Retrieved 2017-11-17. 1. ["Bridgehead to start serving liquor in September"](https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/bridgehead-to-start-serving-liquor-in-september). *Ottawa Citizen*. Retrieved 2015-11-12. 1. ["Brewing Better Business: Carleton and Bridgehead Research a Coffee Conundrum"](https://carleton.ca/our-stories/story/carleton-bridgehead-research). *Carleton Stories*. Retrieved 2017-02-08. 1. [https://coffeeroast.com/roaster/bridgehead](https://coffeeroast.com/roaster/bridgehead) ## External links - [Bridgehead's history](https://www.bridgehead.ca/pages/history) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20170922052105/https://www.bridgehead.ca/pages/history) 2017-09-22 at the Wayback Machine --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Bridgehead Coffee](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bridgehead_Coffee) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bridgehead_Coffee?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.