John’s Bio:
When JJ Bean House of Coffee owner John Neate started up his little coffee company in Vancouver 11 years ago, he knew he’d have to produce something very special to compete with a U.S.-based coffee giant that was targeting the city in a big way. His grandfather, Francois James Neate, started roasting for Nash Tea and Coffee, but in 1945 formed F.J. Neate & Co. (a.k.a. Neate’s Coffee), a coffee wholesaler that supplied many of the city’s top restaurants and stores. Neate’s father, John Sr., joined the family business in 1951 and helped Neate’s Coffee grow.
Neate began an apprenticeship with the company in 1979, working alongside John Sr. until Neate’s Coffee was sold in 1990.
Then, Neate said, Starbucks started opening stores in Vancouver and he saw an opportunity to start his own company called JJ Bean, Vancouver’s own micro-roaster. “I knew that if I could put together a team of people crazy about coffee, if I could meet or exceed the new coffee standards and then go one better and find a way to deliver roasted coffee, fresh every day — I could compete.” In 1999, JJ Bean merged with specialty coffee roaster Torrefazione Coloiera “to add a little Italian to our Vancouver roots” and changed the operating name to JJ Bean, House of Coffee.
Neate, who owns 80 per cent of the company with wife Melanie — business partner David Mindell owns the rest — said another factor in his company’s success is providing more elbow room for customers. “We try to have more square feet per seat. I wanted to make it more like a living room, more comfortable. We wanted more spacious rooms for people to sit and relax.”
Neate’s advice to budding entrepreneurs? “Find something you enjoy, and find a way to get paid for it. I wanted great coffee and couldn’t find it in Vancouver. So we spent a lot of hours finding a way to make the very best espresso coffee.” Neate said about 25 per cent of their coffee is fair-trade organic, a type of coffee he believes will become more popular in the coming years.
- Listen to John’s talk at Business by the Book: Play Audio