Whilst women’s empowerment does figure in the Fairtrade standards, we want to go further and challenge mainstream Fairtrade to show that the bar can be raised and women can have access to the same choices as men.

Smallholders, not estates, produce most of the world’s coffee and some of the best too! Yet despite women doing most of the work on the farm they often have little influence.
Evidence shows that where women control household income the family’s health, nutrition and education improves at a faster rate because less money is spent outside the household.

We see the development of traceable supplies of coffee coming from women farmers as a logical development of Fairtrade. We seek to improve the women’s status and capacity for independent action through these steps.
We are really excited by these first steps. Our Gumutindo coffee is now sourced entirely from women farmers! These are the first steps on a journey. We do not promise quick fixes but do promise to tell you what happens over the next few years.

In future we will source green coffee from women farmers for other parts of our range. Look out for those changes