In celebration of International Coffee Day, taste and nutrition company Kerry has announced a new partnership with Café Femenino Coffee Extracts, in which Kerry will be its primary sponsor and extraction partner globally.
This partnership will see Kerry sharing its global distribution network with Café Femenino, supplying Café Femenino’s fair trade organic coffee extracts to food and beverage brands globally while supporting female coffee workers.
Café Femenino was co-founded in 2003 by Peruvian women farmers and Organic Products Trading Co., Café. It is a community-based program that aims to end the cycle of poverty that affects female coffee farmers everywhere.
Based on an ethical sourcing model, the initiative is found in nine countries including Peru, Sumatra (Indonesia), Brazil, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Bolivia, Mexico, Colombia, and Rwanda.
“With this partnership, our customers anywhere in the world can now access and support the distinctive taste of the premium fair-trade coffee produced using high-quality, organic-certified coffee beans from women growers in Sumatra and Peru,” says Leigh Anne Vaughan, Global Strategic Marketing Director of Taste at Kerry.
“Consumers can also be assured that the women responsible for the production of the coffee beans have been compensated directly for their work, and also provided the opportunity and resources to enact positive change in their home communities and on their own terms.”
Café Femenino’s local programs help female farmers to receive payments and payment premiums directly, and supports them in assuming leadership roles, such as in co-operatives and on boards. Currently, the program has supported 178 women in leadership positions.
Members of Café Femenino also secure rights to the land they farm, who then produce Fairtrade certified and organic-certified coffee.
“We have used the money we’ve received from the Café Femenino premium to invest in improving our homes, providing education for our daughters, and improving the food we feed our families,” says Sabina Cecanop, Founding President of Café Femenino Peru.
“Café Femenino has been wonderful in improving the self-esteem and empowerment of women in the community.”
The program also supports roughly 1150 farmers’ children through its educational program that was developed in partnership with local agencies. These educational programs provide a range of benefits including learning opportunities for all children, supporting the building of libraries and schools, improving health education, and fighting malnutrition.
Other positive changes have seen the program providing micro-loan funds for women-led microenterprises and replacing stoves that can lead to smoke inhalation with more modern and safer designed equipment.
According to Kerry, this partnership strengthens its ‘Beyond the Horizon’ sustainability program that showcases the brand’s continued commitment to improving the livelihoods of suppliers and their communities.
“Through this partnership, Kerry will be the only company worldwide creating coffee extracts from the beans of Café Femenino growers. Kerry is delighted to partner with the Café Femenino community program,” says Vaughan.
The Café Femenino program has more than 4000 members and aligns with three of the United Nations Sustainability Goals, including ending poverty, achieving gender equality and promoting sustained, inclusive, and sustainable economic growth.
For more information, visit Kerry.com or visit www.cafefemenino.com.
