Frequently asked questions
Due to the Canada Post strike and the high demand during the holiday season, the preparation and shipping times for orders are currently much longer than usual. This situation, combined with the pressure on other carriers, is impacting delivery times, which could extend into January. Delivery delays for orders may even persist until the end of January.
For this reason, we are unfortunately forced to suspend our delivery guarantee before the holidays.
Our recommendations:
- Prioritize purchasing from grocery stores and our various points of sale to ensure you receive your coffee before the holidays.
- Consider offering an electronic gift card, available on our website. It will be sent directly by email and will not face any delays.
Please also note that our stores in Sherbrooke will be closed during the holiday period. Our factory store located at 1625, Belvédère South, Sherbrooke, QC, Canada, J1H 4E4 will be closed from December 21st to January 12th inclusively, so it is important for customers who have selected in-store pickup to do so before this date.
Our store located at 5807, Robert-Boyd, Sherbrooke, QC, Canada, J1R 0W8 will also be closed from December 21st to January 5th inclusively.
We understand the inconvenience this may cause and want to express our sincere apologies for this situation, which is beyond our control.
If you have any further questions, please address them to cafe@cafewilliam.com.
Our green coffee beans come from several countries in the “Coffee Belt”, the equatorial strip between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn. We roast coffees grown in Colombia, Indonesia and Peru, among others.
All batches of green coffee are analyzed by Café William's quality team on arrival to ensure that the product meets our requirements. Since green coffee is a dry ingredient, coffee batches are not prone to bacterial growth. However, Café William's quality team randomly tests batches to ensure that no molds or mycotoxins are present in our products. Moreover, state-of-the-art equipment has been installed in our production line to remove any foreign matter that may have entered the green coffee during harvesting.
Many of our coffees are available in ground or whole bean format. Using the drop-down menu on the product page, you can choose one or the other.
It is possible to identify the main flavor profile of the majority of our products via the color of our coffee bags:
- Yellow bags are light-roasted coffees
- Green bags are medium-roasted coffees
- Blue bags are dark-roasted coffees
- Red bags are ideal for espresso machines
- Purple bags are decaffeinated
Note that some Costco products and special editions have a different color. For more details on their taste profile, please refer to the description on the packaging or on the product page of our website.
Café William is proud to use only beans naturally decaffeinated with water, using a process commonly known as “Mountain Water”. No chemicals or solvents are used in the decaffeination process.
To find out more, we invite you to read this article.
Our dark roasted coffees packaged in blue bags have a slightly oily surface. In addition, our Espresso Barista and Sumatra coffees available at Costco are more oily due to their darker roast. We therefore do not recommend using these coffees with automatic machines, unless you alternate with a less oily coffee and maintain your machine more frequently.
Our coffees packed in the red bags are perfect for making delicious espresso-based coffees. These coffees are a skilfully calculated blend of Arabica beans from different origins and a small percentage of premium Robusta, resulting in a beautiful crema. Light to medium roast, our espressos have no surface oils, which helps protect your grinder.
Since the Espresso Barista and Sumatra available at Costco have more surface oil given their darker roast, we don't recommend them for use with an automatic machine, unless you alternate with a less oily coffee and perform more frequent maintenance on your machine.
Since our Vision coffee has a lighter roast, it's normal for the grind required to be finer. The paler the roast color, the finer the grind required.
The best way to keep coffee beans fresh is to store them in an airtight, opaque container, out of the sun, in a cool, dry place at room temperature. Café William bags feature a one-way freshness valve and a tightly sealed zipper to keep beans fresh longer.
We don't recommend storing your coffee beans in the fridge or freezer, as coffee is a sensitive food and will absorb odors from the fridge or freezer.
You can buy our coffees on our website, in Costco warehouses in Quebec and Eastern Canada, and on costco.ca. In grocery stores, you can buy many of our coffees at Metro, IGA, Super C and Provigo, among others. Locate the store nearest you in the Store Locator.
Fairtrade certification means “offering a competitive and fair price, decent working conditions and a fair trading environment for workers and farmers.” (Source: Fairtrade Canada). Café William is committed, with the help of Fairtrade Canada, to supporting coffee growers, offering them a decent income and thus ensuring a future for coffee growing. For more information, please refer to our Sustainability page.
Organic coffees are grown without the use of harmful pesticides, herbicides and chemicals. At Café William, we believe that organic coffee ensures better health for producers, their communities and you, the consumer! For more information, please refer to our Sustainability page.
We are currently in the process of completing our packaging transition with a new material that is made up of 30% material that has already been recycled, thus encouraging the reuse of existing materials. For our operations, this represents a reduction of 8.5 tonnes of virgin plastic annually. We hope to be able to increase this percentage as soon as manufacturers find a solution to maintain flexibility.
Unfortunately, according to a study by the Centre de recherche industrielle du Québec commissioned by Café William, no municipality in Quebec has a sorting center capable of sorting “freestanding” coffee packaging. These are therefore systematically landfilled. We have therefore opted for bags made from recycled materials, which enables us to preserve the quality of the coffee in its packaging, while actually reducing the quantity of virgin plastic used.
Click here to find out more about our sustainable initiatives.
Our K-cups are recyclable, while the coffee inside is compostable. Simply remove the printed lid (easy pull tab) and discard, empty the coffee into the compost and then recycle the capsule (the hard portion).
We travel to Costco warehouses in Quebec and select cities in Ontario to introduce you to all our coffees in Costco-exclusive formats. Learn more about our collection of organic and fair-trade coffees, available in velvety, medium and full-bodied roasts, or discover our espresso range! You can also have your coffee ground on site. Find your nearest demonstration by clicking here.
Check out the schedule of upcoming Costco demonstrations here.
Our Espresso Barista is the only one of our espressos that is oily, because it is dark-roasted. It is in fact what is known as an American espresso: these are often dark-roasted and therefore more oily. Our other espressos are Italian, and less oily.
For orders $59.99 and under, a flat fee of $14.90 will be added to your final invoice.
For all orders of $60.00 or more, standard shipping is offered free of charge.
If you use a promotional code, your order must be $60 or more after any promotional code is applied to qualify for free shipping.
A flat fee of $35.00 will be added to orders with a delivery address located in the Northwest Territories, Yukon and Nunavut.
Web orders are prepared from Monday to Friday, excluding public holidays. Orders are usually prepared within 1-3 business days. Thereafter, the usual delivery time is 2-5 working days.
However, circumstances beyond our control may increase the delivery time. Please note that longer order preparation and delivery times are to be expected during busy periods such as Black Friday, Boxing Day and Mother's Day.
**Updates regarding our deliveries with Canada Post. The strike and lockout were announced by Canada Post on Friday, November 15.
All orders (orders between November 4 and before 3pm on November 14) in the postal network will be secured and delivered as soon as possible when operations resume on a first-in, first-out basis.
We sincerely apologize for this inconvenience, which is beyond our control. Please note that all new orders will be delivered with another carrier to ship your packages.
Important Notice: Extended Delays for Online Orders in December and During the Holiday Season
Due to the Canada Post strike and the high demand during the holiday season, the preparation and shipping times for orders are currently much longer than usual. This situation, combined with the pressure on other carriers, is impacting delivery times, which could extend into January. Delivery delays for orders may even persist until the end of January.
For this reason, we are unfortunately forced to suspend our delivery guarantee before the holidays.
Our recommendations:
- Prioritize purchasing from grocery stores and our various points of sale to ensure you receive your coffee before the holidays.
- Consider offering an electronic gift card, available on our website. It will be sent directly by email and will not face any delays.
Please also note that our stores in Sherbrooke will be closed during the holiday period. Our factory store located at 1625, Belvédère South, Sherbrooke, QC, Canada, J1H 4E4 will be closed from December 21st to January 12th inclusively, so it is important for customers who have selected in-store pickup to do so before this date.
Our store located at 5807, Robert-Boyd, Sherbrooke, QC, Canada, J1R 0W8 will also be closed from December 21st to January 5th inclusively.
We understand the inconvenience this may cause and want to express our sincere apologies for this situation, which is beyond our control.
If you have any further questions, please address them to cafe@cafewilliam.com.
You will receive a tracking number that will take you directly to the Canada Post website when your package is shipped. This will enable you to track your order.
At the moment, we are only able to ship orders to Canada.
Yes, you can choose to pick up your order at our factory outlet between 10 a.m. and 5:30 p.m., Monday to Friday, at 1625 Belvedere Street South, Sherbrooke, QC.
Yes, if you want to grind the coffee beans you buy on our website, simply specify in the Special instructions for seller box the type of grind you want and the type of machine you're using.
At Café William, we take your satisfaction to heart. If you encounter a problem or have any questions about your order, please don't hesitate to contact us at cafe@cafewilliam.com. Our customer service team will be happy to talk with you.
Here are the payment methods we accept: Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover, Diners Club, Shop Pay, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Interac
A web exclusive is a product exclusively available in our online store. Click here to discover our current web exclusive products.
Yes, you can purchase a gift card here and send it to a friend or family member directly from our website. You have the option of offering a $25, $50, $100 or $150 gift card.
When you proceed to checkout, you'll have the option to add a promotional code to the right of the screen, below the summary of your cart contents.
Please note that promotional codes are not applicable when purchasing gift cards.
When you proceed to checkout, you'll have the option to pay by gift card on the right-hand side of the screen, below the summary of your shopping cart contents.
Since coffee is a fresh, perishable product that is sensitive to changes in its environment, our coffee bags are unfortunately not exchangeable or refundable. However, we will be happy to issue you a credit for a future purchase on our website.
If the accessory you purchased is damaged, write to us at cafe@cafewilliam.com so that we can see what can be done.
If you have any doubts about the taste of your coffee, write to our customer service department at cafe@cafewilliam.com. We’re here to share our top tips and help you achieve optimal coffee brewing results.
If you have made a purchase from one of our retailers, the retailer will take care of making an exchange or a refund according to their policy in effect. We will not refund or exchange for a purchase made at a retailer.
A coffee subscription is a convenient way to ensure you never run out of your favorite coffee. By scheduling regular deliveries straight to your door, you’ll enjoy 10% off on all coffees available by subscription.
All our coffees are available by subscription, with the exception of limited-edition products, boxes of 6 bags of 340g filter and espresso grinds, and the Coffee Box.
It's still possible to buy our coffees on a one-time purchase without a subscription.
To subscribe to a product, simply select the “Subscribe” option on your favorite coffee page.
It's important to create an account on the Café William website to manage your subscription. This gives you total control over your subscription. At any time, you can change the coffee you receive, the frequency with which you receive it, or even the date of your next delivery. Also, you can update your address, cancel your subscription or skip a delivery at any time, simply by logging into your account.
Deliveries can be scheduled every 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 or 8 weeks.
Yes, it is possible to subscribe to several products at the same time. To do so, you need to subscribe individually to each coffee you wish to receive.
The ideal amount of coffee and delivery frequency for you depends on the weekly coffee consumption in your household. Typically, any type of coffee will require around 15g of coffee per cup. By calculating your weekly consumption, you'll be able to identify the ideal amount of coffee and delivery frequency for your household.
Your subscription will start as soon as you make your purchase, which means you'll receive your first shipment of coffee within a few days of placing your order. Your order will be automatically renewed at the frequency you have selected.
To access your account and subscription, simply go to the Customer Account section by clicking on the button in the top right-hand corner of our website.
It is possible to modify your subscription by changing the frequency of purchase, the type of coffee received, suspend your subscription or even skip a delivery. 3 days before a new order is placed, you will receive a reminder email from us. Upon receipt of this message, you will have 24 hours to modify your subscription. Otherwise, subscription details may be modified at any time in the meantime.
You can also change your delivery address in your customer portal.
Once your credit card has been charged, we prepare your order and ship it to your home. Web orders are processed Monday through Friday, excluding holidays. Orders usually take 1-3 business days to prepare. Thereafter, the usual delivery time is 2-5 business days.
However, circumstances beyond our control may increase the delivery time. Please note that longer order preparation and delivery times are to be expected during busy periods such as Black Friday, Boxing Day and Mother's Day.
Important Notice: Extended Delays for Online Orders in December and During the Holiday Season
Due to the Canada Post strike and the high demand during the holiday season, the preparation and shipping times for orders are currently much longer than usual. This situation, combined with the pressure on other carriers, is impacting delivery times, which could extend into January. Delivery delays for orders may even persist until the end of January.
We understand the inconvenience this may cause and want to express our sincere apologies for this situation, which is beyond our control.
Thank you for your understanding and patience.
On Costco.ca, coffee bags are sold in packs of two for $52.99. In Costco warehouses, bags are available individually for $26.99 for the 908g size (or 750g for decaf), except for the Blue Mountain, which is priced at $36.99 during roadshows. These roadshows are only available for 13 days and return approximately every three months, making it less convenient to purchase.
In comparison, our subscription offers the same sizes at $27.00 per bag and $35.99 for Blue Mountain, with these prices already including a 10% discount off the regular price. The subscription also allows you to select different bags, receive your coffee directly at your door, and skip the trip. Ideal for those looking for simplicity and flexibility, while Costco is a good option for those who prefer buying in bulk or taking advantage of roadshows when available.
We are always looking for ways to get involved in our community. As requests for donations and sponsorships continue to grow, we have established a policy to set parameters that allow us to respond to requests in a fair and equitable manner.
If you would like to discuss with us regarding donation or sponsorship, please write to cafe@cafewilliam.com with a description of your project, your timeline and the reason why you think Café William is a fit for you.
With the large number of partnership and event requests received, we prioritize organizations that contribute to active living and have social involvement and a commitment to sustainability.
If this fits your mission, please contact us at cafe@cafewilliam.com.
We are always looking for partners and media coverage. For all press and media inquiries, please contact us at cafe@cafewilliam.com.
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