EDUCATION

WOMEN COFFEE PRODUCERS

In an attempt to recognize and promote the work women do growing and producing coffees around the world, Cafe Import’s has developed—and seek to expand—a program empowering women along the global coffee supply chain by creating equity, visibility, and access to a wider market.

While the role of women is culturally distinct from region to region within the coffee-producing world, Cafe Imports has created a set of base guidelines for the organizations and communities whose coffees are highlighted in this program, which helps them to work collaboratively with the growers to establish premiums and parameters for their participation.

These coffees come from both women’s cooperatives, and from the women members of mixed-gender cooperatives whose coffees are separated out from the main lots. The coffees score between 85–88 points, and the women are paid a premium per pound for their coffee as part of the Women Coffee Producers program; there is also the potential to develop microlot rewards through this program, for coffees that cup 88 and higher.

The women often choose to apply the premiums to projects in their communities, such as educational efforts and increased health-care access, but there are no stipulations to the use of the funds: The premiums Cafe Imports pays represent a small step toward eliminating the inequity that women face in coffee, and recognizes the specific financial considerations and hardships that women in general face around the world, both within and without the coffee industry.

This is an amazing program that we, at Strata, love to support and if you want to try one of them out, just take a look at our Women’s Produced Colombian EA Decaf and keep an eye out for more offerings and other coffees from the Women Coffee Producers program.

Group of women gathered around a stone water basin in an outdoor setting, with lush greenery in the background.

An old-fashioned manual coffee grinder placed on a white tiled outdoor kitchen counter with a large open container or sink nearby. In the background, there are some plants and a bamboo fence.

A large group of people posing together inside a house, some sitting and some standing, smiling at the camera.

What Are “Direct” and “Fair” Trade?

Fair Trade is certification that is applied for and then granted by a third party auditor that is renewed annually. The auditor requires specifics around worker's rights, fair labor practices, and responsible land management.
Direct Trade, on the other hand, typically implies that a coffee buyer agrees to a fair price directly with the coffee farmer based on quality. A direct trade seller will, hopefully have a personal relationship and first-hand knowledge of the farming practices of their growers.
In both cases, no Direct Trade or Fair Trade system has ever ensured a minimum wage or safe working conditions for coffee pickers, processors, or other laborers within the farm itself.
Direct Trade is not a monitored certification or anything that is official. It is, in a sense, a marketing term that implies direct involvement.
Fair Trade only offers farmers about 20 cents more than commodity pricing for every pound of coffee sold, a small increase for even the largest producers. In addition, Fair Trade is also only available to cooperatives and large estates, leaving out small-scale individual farmers. It also lacks the level of transparency and traceability back to the producers that we value. Lastly, Fair Trade doesn’t give money to the laborers but only the land owners, so those most in need do not benefit from that 20 cent increase. Fair Trade fails to incentivize high-quality coffee, improved economic standing, or innovation at the farm level, paying farmers the same rate no matter the coffee quality.
There is no single clear cut solution that will immediately clear up wage issues and improve economic stability.
What must be done to fix wage issues is, honestly, a slow steady process towards improvement. First, Roasters must hold themselves accountable and do the research to make sure that all their purchases lead to a better, brighter future for the coffee industry and those who make it.
In addition, the consumer must take responsibility for their purchases by making sure their roasters and producers are doing the right things when buying coffee. In addition, customers can also improve their own educations to learn what labels like “Fair Trade” and “Direct Trade” mean and how the farms, and those working on them, are effected by ethics and choices of the importers, roasters, and retail coffee sellers.
Though Strata doesn’t have the size or scale to create a direct trade system that reflects our end goals, we can do the research and work needed to make sure that we are doing our part in improving coffee commerce. We do this by supporting programs like Cafe Import’s Women Coffee Producer Program. It’s with the help and transparency of our importers that we are enabled to help improve this industry wherever we can.