Purchase women-produced coffee at Fig Leaf Coffee Company
By Tom Nemeth, Owner; Fig Leaf Coffee Company
Growing and processing coffee requires hard work and the ability to follow processing instructions. Sounds simple enough, but why are some sources better at it than others and how do we choose?
At Fig Leaf Coffee, we conduct a blind sampling of each coffee we source in order to eliminate bias, and instead focus on the coffee profiles and roasting results. We may have eight coffees from Guatemala to consider, so we number each container without names or identifying information to ensure our customers get the best tasting coffee.
In an industry dominated by men, we are happy when we select women-produced coffee, which helps them to grow their businesses in developing parts of the world. These countries often lag behind the U.S. in workplace safety, equality for workers, and pay standards for all. Women’s rights are difficult subjects and progress is slow.
In developing countries, it takes a lot of work for a woman to own a successful farm due to cultural differences and long-standing traditions, but their work is paying off. We’re finding more coffees produced by women that score and taste better than others we’ve sampled.
The women-produced coffees we carry come from women’s cooperatives and from the women members of mixed-gender cooperatives whose coffees are separated from the main lots. These coffees score between 85–88 points, and the women are paid a premium per pound, then further premiums for microlot coffees that score at 88 points and higher. Women often choose to apply the premiums to projects in their communities, like access to education and healthcare.
Three women-produced coffees at Fig Leaf are Guatemala Huehuetenango Cooperative, Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Bedhatu Jibicho and Sumatra Peteri Bensu. All are available in three sizes online at FigLeafCoffeeCompany.com/collections/womens-produced-coffee or in our store.
Fig Leaf Coffee is located in West Geauga Plaza Shopping Center at 12628 Chillicothe Rd in Chesterland. For more information call 216-645-6167. The web address is FigLeafCoffeeCompany.com.