Something that I find absolutely wonderful about my industry is that coffee roasters consider it our responsibility to deal fairly with coffee producers and to respond to the extreme vulnerability of their position in the global economy. Some of the greatest rivalries we have are over things like Fair Trade vs Direct Trade--sort of an arms race to see who can go more good. And that’s a great discourse to be a part of: I don’t see the CEOs of fast food restaurants engaged in bragging wars over who pays tomato pickers the most, you know?

Women worldwide perform a greater proportion of agricultural labor than the proportion of profits they control. As woman-owned roasters (women make up only 13% of coffee roasters), we feel that ensuring equal representation and compensation for all coffee producers is especially important to us.

One of the ways we do that is by purchasing coffee from Cafe Femenino co-ops. The Cafe Femenino Foundation provides all sorts of grants for projects that women coffee producers say they need--whether that’s a new drying bed for coffee processing, cleaner cookstoves for their homes, a library, a domestic violence shelter, or help with food production during the off season.

So we both pay a premium (above Fair Trade) on our purchases of CF coffee, and also donate cash to the Foundation. When you buy Cafe Femenino products, you are supporting women in coffee and their families. These coffees are also of excellent quality.

To see the three Cafe Femenino origins currently on offer from us, click here. To learn more about Cafe Femenino or to make a donation, please visit www.coffeecan.org!

-RL