I founded Terra in Montréal in 1978. For the first thirteen years, we focused entirely on what we were building: sourcing relationships with producers, a roasting approach that could do justice to what they grew, and a retail operation that gave us daily feedback on what quality in the cup actually meant to the people drinking it. Our first wholesale customer signed on in 1991. By then, we knew what we had to offer — not just products, but the knowledge and supplier relationships behind them.
That growth did not happen through aggressive sales. It happened because the products are good, the sourcing is honest, and we have been consistent in both for a long time. The launch of wholesale.cafeterra.ca makes our wholesale programme available through a platform built specifically for the needs of retailers, cafés, tea houses, and green coffee roasters. What follows is an introduction to what we offer, how we work, and why I believe Terra is the right wholesale partner for businesses that take quality seriously.
What Four Decades of Direct Trade Actually Means
We work directly with more than thirty growers across Central and South America, Africa, and Asia. These are not brokered relationships. I have visited most of these farms personally, and several of the relationships have been sustained across generational transitions — at their end and at ours. When you receive a Terra product, you are receiving something whose supply chain I can account for, not approximate.
On the roasting side, I developed what we call the TAG method — a precision approach built on patience, direct heat, and a careful reading of each coffee's individual profile rather than a standardised result applied across the range. The objective is to let each origin express itself fully. That is a discipline, not a marketing position, and it requires the kind of sourcing depth that tells you what each coffee is capable of before it reaches the drum.
Certifications — Rainforest Alliance, Ecocert Organic, Aliments du Québec, Kosher — are present across the range where they apply, and they provide the verification that many retail and foodservice environments require. They confirm in writing what the sourcing relationships establish in practice.
The Wholesale Range
Our wholesale catalogue spans specialty roasted coffee, green coffee for roasters, premium tea, hot chocolate, organic sugars, instant coffee, oat milk powder, and commercial equipment. Each category is available in the formats that wholesale contexts require — retail-ready packaging, bulk, and single-serve where applicable. Below is an overview of each.
Specialty Roasted Coffee
Our roasted coffee range is built around direct-trade, single-origin lots and handcrafted espresso and drip blends. The catalogue includes exclusive micro-lots — sourced from specific farms or cooperative groups, available in limited volumes — as well as our core blends, which are roasted to order and available consistently. All roasted coffees are offered in bulk and retail-ready packaging formats, with Rainforest Alliance and Aliments du Québec certifications across the range. Roast and taste profile charts are available to support your team's product knowledge and your customers' selection.
Green Coffee for Roasters
Our green coffee programme is one of the more substantive offerings available to independent and small-batch roasters in Canada. The selection spans Asia, Africa, Central America, South America, and a dedicated rare and exotic catalogue — all sourced through the same direct trade relationships that underpin our roasted coffee range. Wholesale partners gain access to:
- Exclusive micro-lots, pure origins, and unique blends suited to both filter and espresso applications
- Detailed spec sheets per variety, including species, cultivar, processing method, and altitude
- Roasting advice from our team, tailored to each coffee
- Original burlap bags from 45 to 70 kilos; 15 kg bags; and 1 to 5 kilo formats for rare and exotic varieties
- The Coffee Support and Analysis Program: digital analysis of your roast colour with secure data storage, available on demand
- Private micro-lot reservations and coffee reservations for a predetermined period
- Custom blend development in collaboration with our master roaster
Ecocert Organic and Rainforest Alliance certifications are available across select origins.
Specialty Tea
Our tea range is built for wholesale partners who want to offer more than commodity tea. The selection covers single-origin whole-leaf teas, handcrafted blends, caffeine-free herbal teas, and fruit blends — all available in both loose-leaf and compostable teabag formats, in bulk and retail-ready packaging. Products are freshly blended and flavoured on demand. Private recipes are available for partners seeking exclusivity. The range carries Aliments du Québec and Kosher certifications.
Specialty Hot Chocolate
Our hot chocolates are made from organic Dutch-process cocoa and organic golden cane sugar, combined with carefully sourced flavour essences to produce ten flavour variants — both classic and seasonal. All are vegan, nut-free, dairy-free, and gluten-free, and carry Aliments du Québec and Kosher certifications. Available in bulk, retail, and single-serve formats.
Organic Sugars and Cocoa
Our directly imported organic sugars and cocoa are certified by Ecocert Canada and Kosher. The range includes granular and icing golden cane sugar, granular coconut sugar, and 100% Dutch-process cocoa — available in bulk, retail, and individual-packet formats.
Instant Coffees
Our instant coffee range covers five varieties — Rich & Smooth, Espresso, Iced Vanilla Hazelnut, Iced Raspberry, and Iced Caramel — produced through freeze-drying and spray-drying processes. Hot and iced recipes are included. Rainforest Alliance, Aliments du Québec, and Kosher certifications apply across the range. Available in bulk and retail formats.
Organic Instant Oat Milk Powder
Our Organic Instant Oat Milk Powder is made from certified organic oats and is gluten-free and additive-free. It dissolves cleanly in hot beverages and offers a neutral, creamy profile suited to café applications — a practical option for partners responding to demand for plant-based milk alternatives.
Equipment and Accessories
Our Baristech division offers commercial equipment rental and sales, maintenance, and on-site repair services for cafés and foodservice environments. The equipment catalogue includes superautomatic and traditional espresso machines, grinders, automatic coffee tampers, filter brewers, the Caffe Assist automated milk frothing system, and carbonated water machines. A complete range of consumer coffee and tea accessories is also available for retail partners looking to offer a full category experience.
How We Work With Different Types of Partners
The products, formats, and support most relevant to a specialty food retailer differ from those most useful to a green coffee roaster. Here is how our offer applies across partner contexts.
Specialty Food Retailers
Retail partners receive the full Terra catalogue in retail-ready packaging designed with the shelf in mind — clear taste descriptions and product imagery that reduce the burden on floor staff and support customer self-selection. Display solutions and point-of-sale materials are available. For retailers seeking to stock commercial equipment alongside consumables, Baristech's range is available through the same wholesale relationship.
Bulk and Zero-Waste Retailers
We supply large-format coffee dispensers, bulk tea canisters, and a full range of bulk-packaged products suited to zero-waste retail operations — fresh roasted coffee, whole-leaf tea, hot chocolate, organic cocoa, and sugars. Point-of-sale materials are available to communicate product provenance and certifications in-store.
Coffee Shops and Tea Houses
For independent cafés and tea houses, we function as both a supplier and an operational partner. The product range covers specialty roasted coffee and whole-leaf tea in bulk and retail formats. Baristech adds barista training, equipment rental programs, and maintenance and repair services — reducing the number of vendor relationships you need to manage. For new operations, this is a meaningful simplification. For established ones, it provides continuity across supply and equipment support.
Green Coffee Roasters
The depth of our sourcing relationship matters beyond the product catalogue. Our direct trade network includes more than thirty growers across the major producing regions, with farm-level specificity — species, cultivar, processing method, altitude, harvest window — that serious roasters need to make consistent and well-documented purchasing decisions. The roasting support programme, spec sheets, and on-demand analysis tools are designed to make that information actionable in your facility.
The Humaniterra Foundation
When I started Terra, I believed that a business operating in the coffee and tea trade had obligations that extended beyond its own margins — to the producers whose work made everything else possible, and to the communities around them. The Humaniterra Foundation is how that belief became a structural commitment rather than a stated value. A portion of Terra's proceeds goes directly to local and international non-profit humanitarian organisations. Since its inception, the Foundation has distributed more than $240,000.
When you carry Terra products, this history is part of what you are offering your own customers.
The Team
Terra is a small, multigenerational operation. The people listed below are the same people who built the sourcing relationships, developed the product range, and have maintained this business for decades. That continuity is, I think, one of the more underappreciated things we offer wholesale partners: when you call us, you reach someone who has been here long enough to know the answer.
Aimée Granito — Sales, Customer Service, and Operations
Aimée leads our commercial relationships, product development, and day-to-day operations. She is the primary point of contact for wholesale partners and brings a depth of knowledge of the full product range to every client conversation.
John Roveto — Master Roaster and Production Supervisor
John leads our production team with a focus on consistency, quality, and care for the people he works with. His role bridges the supply chain and the finished product — ensuring that what arrives from origin is roasted to its potential and delivered to partners as specified.
Edmond Elizabeth — Director, Equipment Division
Edmond joined Terra in 1991 and has led our Baristech equipment division ever since. He oversees equipment sales, rental programs, maintenance, and on-site repair. His tenure at Terra is itself a trust signal for partners who depend on equipment continuity.
Start Your Partnership
Our wholesale programme is open to specialty food retailers, cafés, tea houses, bulk and zero-waste stores, green coffee roasters, and foodservice operations across Canada. The application process begins with an account request — once approved, your team has access to the full product catalogue, current pricing, and our sales and support team.
If you have questions before applying, contact us directly. We are glad to discuss your product needs, walk through the catalogue, or arrange a sample before you commit.