Interview with Tim Knutton, Co-owner at Counterpart Coffee
When we sat down with the founders of Counterpart Coffee, we didn't expect their story to start with woodworking and safety consulting—but that’s exactly where it began. After moving to Squamish, Tim Knutton and Emily Lehnen were both working independently in their respective fields. Coffee was just a shared passion at first, with Tim roasting small batches at home. But with no one else roasting locally in Squamish at the time, they saw an opportunity to bring something new to the community. And just like that, Counterpart Coffee was born—built on curiosity, creativity, and a love for a really good cup. Since then, over ten years have flown by. So, we caught up with Tim to reflect on the journey, the growth, and what’s next for Counterpart.
What are you most proud of in your decade-long journey with Counterpart?
We started not knowing a whole lot, but I’m confident to say we know a whole lot more now! The past ten years have been a hell of a journey with a steep learning curve, and in the last five years, the hospitality industry's had a real hard go. People have either thrown their hands up and given up, been pushed out, or had to scale their operations back and pivot. After closing our cafe, we were able to pivot in a way that allowed us to keep going. The fact that we've been at it for this long makes us feel pretty proud.
Can you tell us about the thought process behind creating your name and logo?
Our branding connects to the idea of trust and connections in the supply chain; from the consumer all the way back to the farmer. Our logo represents the series of handshakes and trusted relationships that are important to us.
Looking into the next 10 years, what would success look like for Counterpart?
The industry has some very serious challenges ahead of it. We have climate change, which will continue to rear its ugly head in ways that just can't be predicted—affecting—and continuing to affect—where coffee can be viably grown. This means people who are in precarious situations to begin with—and coffee farming is almost always a precarious situation—are going to be tossed into even more chaotic situations. Everybody in the supply chain is going to be at risk in one way or another. It’s going to be increasingly difficult to source coffee, but the best thing that we can do is continue to have a community-based approach to supporting producers, and doing everything we can to help them. For us, that is success in a small but broad sense.
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