About Us

Our Story

Kim Dufort has deep roots on Vancouver Island; she was born in Victoria, raised in Central Saanich, and settled in Esquimalt in 1985. She has a passion for helping people and the bulk of her employment history has been working with adults with a developmental disability.

Marc Dufort was born and raised near Montreal and moved to Victoria in 1982 to join the Navy; he has called Victoria home since then. His passion is creating beautiful, welcoming spaces and influencing change in his surroundings.

Through her work with adults with a developmental disability (DD), Kim discovered that many of the adults she worked with were very capable and eager to be employed but there weren’t many options open to them. In BC the rate of unemployment for adults with a DD is approximately 75% which means many of these individuals live at or below the poverty level.

In January of 2018 Kim approached Marc with an idea she had to open a coffee shop that would provide employment for adults with a developmental disability, and give them an opportunity to learn new job skills and experience pride in their contribution to a team. A Kinder Cup was created!

With the help of some amazing people we were able to secure an outstanding coffee bean supplier, find an amazing location, renovate the space to make it beautiful, and finally open our doors to serve our community. We truly appreciate everyone who helped to make our dream a reality – we absolutely couldn’t have done it without you!

With thanks,

Kim and Marc Dufort

Our Team

Greg

Kindness Ambassador

Greg loves to meet new people and will greet you with a warm smile when you come in. His favourite part of the job is interacting with customers and serving them their food or drinks.

Andrea

Kindness Ambassador

Andrea comes to work full of enthusiasm and enjoys talking to customers while taking their orders. She connects quickly with people and will happily chat about two of her passions; art and music.

Deanna

Kindness Ambassador

Deanna is very dedicated to her job; she takes a ferry and two buses to get to work! She enjoys making lattes and is very happy to be part of our team.

Mary

Kindness Ambassador

Mary works hard in our kitchen, cleaning our dishes and counters. Mary also enjoys teaching us sign language. She loves her job, all the staff, and is known to be a bit of a tease!

Nathan

Kindness Ambassador

Nathan has mastered our point of sale system like a pro. His favourite thing to do is pull espresso shots for specialty coffee drinks. He loves the fact that he is a “co-worker” and not a “co-worker with special needs”.

Matthew

Kindness Ambassador

Matt joined our weekend team in October 2020 in the midst of the Covid pandemic. He became an instant pro at making our breakfast sandwiches – he preps them with flair (and often a double finger snap, single heel kick!) If you’re lucky you may hear him singing along to his favourite tunes!

In The NEWS

CHEK NEWS

February 3, 2019, Newsclip from CHEK NEWS – Click HERE

Mitzi Dean in the Legislature

March 27, 2019, Shoutout from Mitzi Dean in the Legislature – Click HERE

Lookout Newspaper

June 3, 2019, Lookout News Story – Click HERE

Sawatsky Sign-Off

June 20, 2019, Sawatsky Sign-Off – Click HERE

Victoria News

September 26, 2019, Front page of the Victoria News – Click HERE

CHEK TV "Upside"

August 17, 2020, Featured on CHEK TV in their “Upside” segment – Click HERE

Worklink Employment Society

September 25, 2020

Our Kindness Ambassador was featured in a video for WorkLink Employment Society – Click HERE

BREWING UP BELONGING

Best Beans

We feature Drumroaster Coffee which is roasted in small batches and delivered fresh to us every week from Cobble Hill.

Quality Milk

We use 3% homo milk in all our specialty coffee drinks but will make it low-fat if you prefer. We also offer five alternative milks for a slight upcharge; almond, soy, coconut, oat, and lactose-free. Steamed cream is also an option for a slight upcharge. One drink, multiple options!