A European café chain with a mission to promote inclusion in the workplace has opened its first location in the U.S.
Café Joyeux, first launched in 2017 in France to hire and train people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), touched down on Lexington Avenue and 52nd Street in New York City in March. It serves speciality coffee and other beverages, plus French-inspired seasonal homemade goods made by “crew members” with developmental disabilities. It also offers catering for meetings and events.
The below film, 47, is a branding initiative for the café that will tug at your heartstrings in a beautiful way — no surprise it snagged four awards the Cannes Lions ad creativity festival in June. It was inspired by the real story of a Café Joyeux employee with Down syndrome who got his first job at 47.
Some 20 European cities have a Café Joyeux, including Paris, Bordeaux, Lyon, Brussels, Lisbon and Cascais. The chain says that altogether it has over 183 crew members and some 115 managers and catering professionals who accompany and train them.
Those interested in employment opportunities can go to https://us.cafejoyeux.com/
Café Joyeux Lexington is located at 599 Lexington Ave., on E. 52nd Street between Lexington and 3rd Avenue.
Photo: The staff at Café Joyeux in New York City (Courtesy of Café Joyeux)
