Robbie Roberts

Hillsborough, NC

Joe Van Gogh coffee roasters began over 15 years ago in a neighborhood Chapel Hill coffee shop under the Cup A Joe name.  Robbie Roberts, owner and master roaster, eventually grew his coffee shop to become Joe Van Gogh coffee. Today, Joe Van Gogh owns and operates three triangle coffee shops and a Hillsborough roasting facility.

Joe Van Gogh is a certified organic coffee roaster whose facility is inspected annually.  They offer certified Fair Trade and Shade Grown coffees.  Whenever possible they purchase the green coffee directly from farmers at origin, maximizing the compensation for hard working coffee growers.  They support the Cafe Feminino Project, a social program enhancing the lives of women coffee producers in developing countries around the world.

From the shady highlands of Bajawa on the Indonesian island of Flores to the Amaro Mountains in Ethiopia, their coffees are selected with care.  Employees Stephanie Calato and Sabrina Borst visited the Selva Negra Estate in Nicaragua: “Watching how hard everyone works on the estate, and the care they put into their craft, made me proud knowing we support people who are as passionate about their part in coffee as we are in ours,” said Stephanie.  “I love knowing, after seeing first hand, that the coffee we sell comes from a farm operated by such caring and innovative people that care as much growing and picking the beans as we do roasting and sharing it with our customers,” said Sabrina.

We started using Cup A Joe beans for our espresso in Panzanella Restaurant over ten years ago.  Although the name has changed, it remains the same great-tasting coffee.