Back in the early '90s, Mickey McLeod took notice of the mounting coffee culture south of the border.

A self-described risk taker, McLeod sensed that this growing trend would eventually hit our border as well.

"I had acquired a taste for really good coffee early on," he said from his new facility in Richmond. "My wife is from California and she introduced me to premium coffee."

An idea began to brew.

At the time, McLeod, his wife Robbyn and brother Ross McLeod lived on Salt Spring Island, and all three partners had farming backgrounds. The trio regularly sold their locally grown, organic produce at the Saturday farmers' market in Ganges, Salt Spring.

"I also had my own small custom sawmill business," said McLeod.

Always on the lookout for interesting and challenging ventures, the three started tossing the idea around about selling their own brand of coffee.

However, other than enjoying fine java, none of them knew the first thing about roasting or selling coffee.

Undeterred, the trio began a two-year odyssey, researching countries that produced the best coffee beans and learning everything there was about buying, roasting and selling the finest coffee on the island.

"I conducted most of our research in the United States, visiting roasters and coffee bars," he added. "Researching coffee traders online was challenging back then."

The trio also had a mandate that they would stay true to their principles of leaving as small a carbon footprint as possible. They sourced out only those growers, from countries such as Nicaragua, Peru, Honduras and countries in Africa, who were committed to fair and sustainable trade practices and, as much as possible, grew certified organic java beans.

"Eventually, we started roasting and grinding organic coffee beans and brewing them on our old woodstove," added McLeod. "We went completely organic in 2001."

In 1996, they opened their first roasting café, Salt Spring Coffee Ganges Café.

This month, Salt Spring Coffee celebrates its 15th anniversary.

Besides its three cafes -- the island one, Main Street in Vancouver and its kiosk at the Tsawwassen Ferry Terminal -- and its new facility on Viking Way, Salt Spring Coffee sells its products to restaurants, health food stores, wholesalers such as Costco, and many coffee houses.

McLeod said they moved the operation to Richmond because it made sense to have the full operation in one large facility -- something that didn't materialize on Salt Spring Island, added McLeod.

The company has come a long way from its humble beginnings when the three partners wore various hats and worked long days with little sleep.

Today, it employs 65 people and roast approximately 3,500 pounds of café a day.

"It's very gratifying for us to see where we have come because it was a hard sell initially," said McLeod, who adds he commutes between his home in Salt Spring to Richmond every week. "We have always stayed true to our belief that a really good cup of coffee shouldn't have to compromise the earth.

"We live an organic lifestyle at home as well."