Northern-brewed coffee heads south: Toronto cafe selling Sudbury's Old Rock coffee.

• Author: McKinley, Karen
• Position: NEWS

The made-in-Sudbury coffee revolution is marching southward.

Sommelier de cafe/Old Rock has landed in downtown Toronto, with a former city resident picking up a licensing agreement to sell their coffee and tea in their establishment.

Co-owner Luc Roy announced they have entered into a licensing agreement with the owner of The Dock on Queen, to sell Sommelier de cafe/Old Rock coffee and tea.

Roy, who points out the coffee roasting is done by his wife Carole and he oversees marketing, said he is of course happy, and explained why they decided to try licensing rather than franchising.

"Licensing encourages people to be different," he said in an interview at the downtown roastery. "We ensure the quality of the coffee--we will still be roasting it ourselves--while the licencee can make the space to sell it any way they wish. It's also less expensive for the people involved and they have more creative leeway."

The licensing agreement includes all products and training, leaving the licence holder to do the rest, including sourcing any food they wish to sell. He described Sommelier de cafe/Old Rock as "micro" entrepreneurs, because they let the licencee take control of marketing the coffee product. He said it's a new concept that focuses on helping others start their own business by focusing on knowing their product without burdening them with rigid regulations.

"We want to turn licencees into connoisseurs of coffee, hence the name sommelier," Roy said. "We want to share the experience of great coffee and if anyone wants to join our family we are open to talking about licensing."

The Dock is owned by former Sudbury resident and musician Mimi O'Bonsawin. She said in an email The Dock is an homage to her life growing up in the region.

"The Dock is Northern Ontario through and through. We are all from up north and decided to bring a little of that to Toronto. Even the wood we recycled is from an old school in Espanola. The canoe we have hanging on top of the bar is my grandfather's canoe."

She explained Old Rock is a customer of King Sportswear, the business owned by her father, Pete O'Bonsawin, and the coffee company had a great reputation. They had been talking about having a cafe in Toronto for some time and she inquired about a licensing agreement.

They did all the renovating and...