54. What It Really Takes to Build a Green Coffee Import Business with Jeff Fleming Apex Coffee

Most people don’t start roasting coffee at 18 and end up building one of the biggest green coffee import companies in Canada.

But Jeff Fleming did.

In this episode Jeff breaks down how he went from barista, to roaster, to running Apex Coffee Importers without outside funding, without a roadmap, and without cutting corners.

Here’s what we get into:

• What specialty coffee looked like in the ‘90s and how it’s changed

• Why he walked away from a stable job to go all-in on importing

• The ugly side of green buying: cash flow, gatekeeping, and pricing politics

• How he turned a gap in the Canadian market into a thriving business

• The real cost of starting from zero and the mindset it takes to keep going

No fluff. No theory. Just real stories from someone who built it brick by brick.

Whether you’re a roaster, a founder, or just obsessed with coffee this is one worth studying.