Christopher Baldwin is an art director and graphic designer who is also a coffee enthusiast. After several years with his successful Christopher Baldwin Design business, based in Seattle, Christopher moved to Whidbey Island in 1995.
Christopher is a Northwest native. He graduated from Western Washington University in the late 80’s and settled in Seattle. Originally, he came to Whidbey to explore its rural character, but he soon decided this was the place where he wanted to settle and raise his family. He currently has several local clients on the island, as well as Snohomish County, and uses Whidbey as his office and base.
While maintaining his successful design business, Christopher began to research what was required to also have a successful coffee business. In addition to learning the best places for purchasing coffee beans and arranging to use the facility of a local Whidbey coffee roaster, Christopher spent two years working on a business plan for Island Time Coffee Company.
As he worked on creating his coffees, he focused on the Northwest aesthetic: “A little bolder; a little more assertive.” All the beans are small batch roasted and sourced directly from farms in Latin America and Indonesia. He only does business with family farms that use ethical practices for raising their products, farms that are 100% chemical and pesticide free.
There are currently four varieties of Island Time Coffee. Christopher notes: “All the varieties have names that relate to the visual and emotional connection people have with the islands.” The current varieties include: Deception Dark, Salish Orca Blend (he donates 10% of the proceeds to Orca Network), Ferry Line Blues and Island Sunset French. He created the brand names “to embrace the Island lifestyle.”
He has developed relationships with local vendors and store managers. Currently, Island Time Coffee is distributed at six locations on South Whidbey. By summertime, he plans to expand to additional locations in Central and North Whidbey.
To learn more about Island Time Coffee Company, or shop for coffee online, please visit www.islandtimecoffeeco.com. Visitors to the website can also participate in a special fundraising program: “In order to promote sustainable and ethical coffee production, 5% of all online profits will go to Food4Farmers, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping coffee-growing communities overcome food insecurity.”
You can also follow Island Time Coffee on Facebook and Instagram.
