College coffee provider inspired by community, consistency, quality and sustainability

Josh Curley-Lanthier retired from policing after 12 years of service. Working as a patrol officer, surveillance officer and undercover officer, Curley-Lanthier found policing to be emotionally demanding and it caused exhaustion, as he witnessed crime over and over again.

In 2020, Curley-Lanthier and his wife Lisa Lanthier started the Ottawa Valley Coffee (OVC) enterprise.

“Our business model is to help support veterans and police officers, and people in a different ways. We do monthly donations through supportive organizations,” said Curley-Lanthier, OVC owner. “We also sell craft beers and homemade baked goods at all our locations.”

Ottawa Valley Coffee has four shop locations: one in Renfrew, Almonte, Arnprior, and a fourth shop will be opening in Petawawa on Oct. 1. Their mission was constructed around four pillars: community, consistency, quality and sustainability.

“I would drive around the city and find stuff people wanted to throw away, my wife and I refurbished it and gave it a second life,” said Curley-Lanthier. “Everything in our stores have been built with recycled products. The counters, the bathrooms, the chairs and tables, decor and more is all from recycled stuff.”

Curley-Lanthier and Lanthier thrive to offer good quality coffee, in-house fresh baked goods and local craft beers to their clients. Their focus, dedication and motivation comes from the four-pillar mission they have created for themselves.

“I am not a coffee roaster but we partnered up with a local coffee roaster that delivers fresh roasted coffee to all our locations every week. Our coffee is amongst the freshest coffee across town. We had sampled about 40 different coffees roasters and this one was the one we wanted to sell in our shops,” said Curley-Lanthier. “The beans are purchased in Guatemala, Brazil, Columbia and Peru. Our master roaster roasts the beans every Monday and we receive them every Wednesday to deliver to our locations, including Algonquin College Bits n’ Bytes.

“You will never drink a cup of Ottawa Valley Coffee that will be older than seven days, most coffees are one month old.”

The new coffee location in AC is receiving positive reviews from customers.

“I have tried all their flavours. One of them taste like white chocolate,” said Rohan Bhatt, an energy management Level 3 student.

“I love the coffee here. Its affordable and still very good quality,” said Bhagya Patel, an energy management Level 3 student.

The OVC coffee is a recent addition to the Bits n’ Bytes menu. They plan to keep the coffee on their shelves as long as the customers are still satisfied.