A locally owned and operated company continues to succeed in the Victoria market.
Hey Happy has solidified itself as a mainstay of Victoria over the past decade, serving some of the city’s most celebrated coffee and food.
Since opening in 2014, the business has seen its share of ups and downs, and has achieved successes on many fronts.
They opened in their current space at 560 Johnson Street 10 years ago, though it was only half the size it is today.
The plan was simple back then, sourcing really good coffee and making their customers happy.
“It was exciting because when we opened it was kind of the golden age of coffee,” said Rob Kettner, Co-owner of Hey Happy.
“With specialty coffee, we were one of the first multiple pourover bars in town and we came along at the right time to have fun with exploring that realm of coffee.”
After a few years of upward trajectory and gaining popularity they started to look at what expansion could potentially look like.
In 2019, Hey Happy expanded into the space next to the cafe to expand seating and add a kitchen.
This changed the game for Hey Happy in a big way and allowed them to explore fun new food that would pair well with their coffee, then the pandemic happened.
“Then COVID hit, for everyone of course. Even though we remained busy and pretty popular, it set us back a few years financially,” Kettner explained.
“But, you know, things picked up again and when we got back on our feet that’s when the kiosk happened.”
In 2024, Hey Happy opened their second location—a small, satellite operation in a kiosk at Uptown Shopping Centre.
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In addition to their expansion, Kettner brought on a business partner, Andrew Paquet, who had formerly worked at and managed Hey Happy in addition to owning Be Still Cody, a coffee roasting company based here in Victoria.
With Paquet on board as a co-owner, he and Kettner were able to focus more on the big picture and ways to expand the company even further.
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After 10 years in business, Victoria Buzz asked Kettner and Paquet what they imagined the next decade might look like.
“If we’re here in 10 years, then that’ll be 20 years and that puts us in the realm of being an institution in Victoria,” Kettner said. “There’s only a few places in town that have that sort of recognition.”
“It would be a testament to us and the community for supporting a small company, helping us be unique and keep the fun going.”
He added that Hey Happy has some “fun surprises coming down the pipe” in terms of two expansion projects that have been in the works for a while and are almost ready to come to fruition.
“There’s still a fire there and a push to get better, evolving and raising the bar” Kettner continued.
Paquet added that the most recent move the company has made was bringing on a new Head Chef, Chris Klassen.
Klassen has worked in a number of renowned Victoria restaurants as well as abroad. He has cooked at Agrius, The Courtney Room and most recently ran the food program at The Drake.
For long-time Hey Happy customers who know and love the food, there is no need to worry, Klassen isn’t planning on flipping the whole menu overnight. Instead he is taking a gradual approach by introducing new or revised menu items as features before integrating them into the menu over time.
“It’s about elevating the food,” Paquet said.
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“We’re all big fans of working with local producers, and finding the right food that really pop off the plate and goes well with coffee and socializing,” Klassen added.
“We’re bringing in the best quality stuff we can.
Klassen has only been heading up the kitchen for just over a month and has already launched the first of many new items, a mortadella breakfast sandwich and the completely vegan ‘aloo happy breakfast sandwich.’
“It’s based on Indian street food flavours, usually available at train stops in Mumbai, but its got a potato fritter between bread with delicious chutneys to go with it,” Klassen explained.
“I wanted to reimagine it as kind of an Americana sandwich, but super wholesome, rich colourful vibrant flavours.”
The next new food item will be hitting the menu next week in the form of breakfast crunch tacos made with fresh gluten-free tortillas from Maiiz on Fisgard Street.
