When the idea for Gems of Alberta was born, there wasn’t really a business around it. There was a couple, Christina and Adrian, who just loved coffee.

Christina had moved to Canada from Germany, and we wanted to continue the exploration of cafes we started during our travels in Europe, and we got the crazy idea to visit every cafe in Edmonton and write about them for others. <br> <br/>

Even though we both loved coffee, as soon as we started on this journey, we realised that there was much more information to learn than we expected. We got our hands on every book we could find, started talking with locals who dedicated their whole life to coffee, took notes, and got really REALLY excited. <br> <br/>

As we began to understand the difference between good coffee and incredible coffee, our home set up started to change. We swapped our blade grinder for an electric burr-grinder and later an awesome hand grinder, and our $10 French Press transformed into a Chemex, Hario V60 and other brewers we knew nothing about. We felt like a whole new world of coffee flavors opened in front of us. And we couldn’t believe that we missed out on it for so long.<br> <br/>
Suddenly, we wanted to let everybody else know. We shared cups of coffee with friends and passionately described our coffee adventures. And, people loved it.<br> <br/> One day Adrian got an email from a friend, sharing a story about a local business he loved that closed it's doors. He was painting a picture about how buying from places like Amazon came at a cost, and that he wished he valued convenience less. Adrian knew exactly what his friend meant. For years he had been saying the same thing. He realized in that very moment that if enough people felt this way, then maybe there was a market for something new. This was the “aha” moment. <br> <br/> Building on this idea, Adrian took his background in predictive analytics and consumer behavior research to create a new model for businesses and consumers to find each other. That’s when Gems of Alberta started, a place where crafts lovers, (that’s you, by the way), would find the best coffee, tea, brew gear, and cafes in their area. <br> <br/>Adrian didn’t only want to facilitate transactions, he wanted to cultivate a community – a network of local craftspeople that come together for the good of all. He talked to local producers and got to know their business realities. As a second step, a team was formed and we created a website that gathers all that information and makes it easy for you to navigate, access and bring incredible coffee and tea home.
<br> <br/> We saw that the crafting community all across Alberta needs nurturing. And we are excited to support the process. We think that this is a new approach to business that should be applied to all sorts of industries. Discovering the hidden gems within the community, strengthening its roots, connecting it to customers, supporting innovation, and making it thrive. <br> <br/>