Staying connected to what matters: How mobile technology supports Dispatch Coffee's ethical mission
Témoignages de clients · 12 nov. 2025
In the early days of
Dispatch Coffee
, Chrissy Durcak was making cold brew in her Montreal home, delivering it in mason jars by bike and taking orders on her cell phone and through a Facebook page. It was just her, building one positive customer experience at a time. Then she launched Montreal's first coffee truck and discovered a critical problem. Without reliable mobile connectivity, she couldn't process payments, take orders or serve customers efficiently. Every outage meant lost revenue and frustrated customers."Operating for the first two years out of a coffee truck meant any downtime with customer communication lost us a tremendous amount in sales," Chrissy recalls. For a founder trying to prove that ethical coffee could be commercially viable, those lost transactions weren't just revenue, they were missed chances to demonstrate that a different model was possible.
"Those early days of lost sales taught me a valuable lesson: without reliable mobile technology, even the best mission can't scale."
Brewing a better business model
Chrissy's vision for Dispatch Coffee was born from a statistic she couldn't shake: over 80% of the world's smallholder coffee farmers experience poverty. As a barista in Montreal's specialty coffee scene, she witnessed an inequitable system generating profits for roasters and retailers while leaving farmers behind.
Dispatch Coffee exists to change that. The specialty coffee roaster pays farmers a minimum 80% higher than fair trade prices, pricing from the ground up based on what farmers need to surpass their operating costs.
"This is not the way coffee traders or large multinational roasters price coffee, and we hope our alternative model can influence buying practices," Chrissy says. Today, Dispatch operates through branded cafes, wholesale partners, and a residential subscription service, all built on the principle that exceptional coffee and economic justice can coexist.
Scaling up: When mobile connectivity became essential
As Dispatch's reputation grew, so did the complexity. What started as a single coffee truck evolved into branded cafes, wholesale partnerships and a national coffee subscription service. Each new revenue stream meant more moving parts to coordinate.
Pop-up café locations became a key growth strategy, allowing Dispatch to test new markets before committing to permanent spaces. But coordinating inventory, staffing and customer communications across multiple locations on the fly required a new level of agility — especially during peak periods like Black Friday and Cyber Monday when a single connectivity issue could turn their busiest weekend into a logistical nightmare.
"My smartphone became the infrastructure that allowed me to be what feels like a million places at once," Chrissy explains. Voice memos captured ideas between locations. Calendar reminders kept operations running smoothly. Centralizing multiple inboxes meant she could respond to farmer communications, wholesale partners and subscription customers without missing a beat. The ecommerce platform added another layer, requiring real-time coordination between their St-Laurent Boulevard fulfillment center and customers across Canada.
"We could not navigate growth without apps on our phones and live chat," Chrissy says.
Finding a partner that shares your values
When Chrissy's business was recognized as a TELUS Business
#StandWithOwners
2024 winner, she found more than just a connectivity solution. She found a partner whose commitment to supporting small business aligned with her own values-driven approach. "What really drew me to TELUS Business
was their ethos of entrepreneurship and supporting small business." Chrissy explains, "They were putting their resources where their values are." "For a founder building a business on the principle that companies should operate according to their values, not just profit margins, that alignment mattered."
TELUS Business Mobility
provided the reliable connectivity needed for mobile operations and coordinating across locations. The team, she says, “reflected an understanding of what small business owners actually need.”The blueprint: Lessons for mission-driven entrepreneurs
Through it all, Chrissy has learned that technology should free founders to focus on their highest-level work. Her journey offers crucial insights for entrepreneurs building businesses that prioritize impact alongside profit:
- Invest in reliable infrastructure early: Lost connectivity means lost sales and lost opportunities to prove your model works
- Create the infrastructure to be everywhere at once: Lean on mobile tech to enable real-time coordination across fulfillment, wholesale partnerships, customer communications and team operations
- Choose partners that share your values: When your business model challenges industry norms, partners who understand your mission become essential allies
- Automate to focus on complexity: Technology should handle routine tasks so founders can focus on solving the unique challenges their businesses face
“The more you can automate and rely on technology, the more mental space you have for the highest level work."
Building a more equitable coffee system, one connection at a time
Today, Dispatch Coffee stands as proof that businesses can pursue both exceptional quality and social impact. Their alternative pricing model, commitment to smallholder farmers and focus on transparency are reshaping what Canadian consumers expect from their morning coffee.
Reliable mobile connectivity enables every part of that mission, from processing subscription orders on the go to coordinating with farming communities to managing pop-up locations that bring their product to new audiences. With this technology supporting critical operations, Chrissy can focus on what matters most: building a company that lifts the industry bar and returns dignified, sustainable prices to the farmers who make it all possible.
"High growth and high impact social enterprise is unfortunately still a very unmapped path for entrepreneurs," Chrissy notes. But with the right technology partners in place, she's charting that path forward.
Explore exclusive Black Friday offers and TELUS Business solutions
This Black Friday marks a unique opportunity to support the mission Chrissy has built from the ground up. From November 28th to December 5th 2025, save 50% on Dispatch's coffee bags with Black Friday code DISPATCHTELUS50 at
dispatchcoffee.ca/collections/all
. And if you're an entrepreneur charting your own path forward, explore our latest TELUS Business solutions and exclusive offers
, built for peace of mind and growth.Auteur:
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