(From left to right) Niko, Holly, Jax and Alex in the Brand 47 Coffee Co. roastery (photo courtesy Alex Graham)

By Teagan Rasche

Sleepless nights fueled a dream for Brand 47 Coffee Co.

Jul 19, 2021 | 4:13 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – Alex Graham never thought she’d leave her firefighting job to become a coffee roaster.

All she and her partner Holly knew was that they wanted to start a company for their sons.

“We kind of just always had it in our mind one day we would start something, no idea what that would be, that we would pass on to them,” Alex said. “I had a random COVID epiphany.”

Alex and Holly have two adopted children, Jax, 7 and Niko, 3. Both boys have down syndrome.

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“It’s very hard for people with any disability to find meaningful employment,” Alex said.

So Brand 47 Coffee Co. was created, with their sons in mind.

“People with down syndrome have 47 chromosomes instead of 46,” Alex said.

The motivation for the caffeine-inspired entrepreneurial dream came from years of sleepless nights. Their older son Jax has severe sleep apnea.

“For about the first four years of his life, we were up every 20 to 40 minutes with him,” Alex said. “On average, 14 times a night.”

As a result, Holly and Alex’s love for coffee went from a need to a passion. They started roasting and selling beans in their own roastery downstairs in their home, even adding unique flavours like maple and coconut to their coffee.

They recently discovered their product, whole beans instead of coffee grounds, didn’t work for everyone.

“I’m trying to make really good coffee for busy people and I realize that by adding that extra step of making them grind it, I was being a little too snobby with the coffee myself and I wasn’t really tailoring to our market,” Alex said.

But commercial grinders are expensive, especially for a new company.

Thanks to a recent grant from the Entrepreneur Development Centre at Medicine Hat College, Alex and Holly can take the next step in growing their coffee business.

“She originally asked for a $5,000 investment in her pitch, but given the size of the business and what we thought they really needed, we decided to give them a little bit more,” Benita Sauer, a partner at MNP, said.

Brand 47 Coffee Co. received $6,200 and a significant amount of mentorship moving forward. Alex says the first thing they’ll buy is a grinder, and spend the rest on marketing materials for the growing business.

In the future, they want to hire employees, specifically those with disabilities, and eventually have a storefront.

But one thing will stay the same – they are committed to donating a portion of sales to the Canadian Down Syndrome Society.