EDMONTON — There’s one more reason to enjoy a cup of Joe each morning. A new concept called CoffeePass has been created to encourage Edmontonians to discover independent coffee shops around the city. Eric Remagni, the founder of CoffeePass, said the goal is to help support the local coffee community during tough economic times. Remagni told CTV News Edmonton, he got the idea of a coffee passport while travelling in Singapore. When he came back to Edmonton, he did a cold launch of the pass in December. “This is really about bringing new faces to coffee shops all around the city,” he said. There are 22 participating cafés and roasteries. They span from Edmonton, to St. Albert and Sherwood Park. The passport costs $35 and the cafés earn $5 for every pass sold. Remagni told CTV News, even if someone is only able to visit seven off the 22 coffee shops, they’re still getting the value of the pass. “From a customer’s perspective, you’re getting a huge savings on a number of coffees,” he said. “From a local business perspective, they’re getting a lot of new clients that otherwise hadn’t heard of them before.” Nicole Dodd, the general manager at the Sober Cat Café, said the CoffeePass has drawn in a number of new customers. “It worked out quite well, bringing in new clientele in a time where it’s very hard to bring people downtown.” For individuals who aren’t fond of java, nearly all of the cafés offer a non-coffee option. Current passes will expire April 30. There are plans to launch a summer edition passport next. With files from CTV Edmonton’s Dave Mitchell
