Here’s why you should care: Despite playing an integral part in global coffee production for decades, many women weren’t recognized or directly compensated for their work. Until 2004, when a group of women from northern Peru stepped in, that is. Their coffee cooperative, CECANOR, teamed up with commercial partner Organic Products Trading Company to start Café Femenino, giving women coffee farmers a voice for the past 13 years.
The program’s collaboration with Joffrey’s has resulted in a rich, bold, earthy dark roast called Café Femenino Sumatra. With notes of sweet, dark berries, the certified-organic coffee — launched Oct. 11 — is grown in the mountains of Sumatra. But the best part? Customers who purchase a 12-ounce bag online (each is a little over $13) are supporting the 544 Café Femenino members who harvest and reside there.
Joffrey’s makes its own contribution by purchasing beans from Café Femenino farms and donating a portion of the proceeds to the Café Femenino Foundation, which funds social projects like education and clean water within the coffee community.
“I’ve been roasting coffee for a long time. I’ve been to a lot of places and seen a lot of coffee growers, and what I see the women doing always impresses me,” said Chris deMezzo, head roastmaster for Joffrey’s, in a statement. “They’re organic, they’re fair trade, they’re farming the way farming is supposed to be.”
In the coming weeks, expect to see the release of additional roasts from participating Café Femenino regions. But folks headed to Walt Disney World can also score the Sumatra coffee at Joffrey’s kiosks and locations throughout the grounds.
This article appears in Oct 12-19, 2017.