[NEW!] Bean Voyage Introduces Buyer Pledge Program
*Currently looking for roasters to enroll in the program for 2019–2020 harvest.
Who are we, and what is the Buyer Pledge Program?
Bean Voyage is a non-profit social enterprise that collaborates with womxn coffee producers and leaders in the coffee industry to co-create a sustainable value chain that works for all. We are currently operating in Costa Rica, developing in Nepal, and have a network capacity and vision to expand to India and other Central American countries.
The Buyer Pledge is one of our newest initiatives to support womxn small-holder producers. With this model, buyers (e.g. roasters) directly negotiate with farmers for the price and quantity of the coffee they would like to buy.
Additionally, the Pledge allows buyers to invest in gender equality in coffee communities in access to training opportunities and visibility of female leadership. By committing a small percentage of the coffee purchase towards the Care Fund, buyers will be directly investing in Gender Equality on the ground through the work of Bean Voyage. For example, this funding will support smallholder womxn producers’ access to our holistic educational training, increase visible female leadership in communities/associations, and promote gender equality at home, farms, and communities.
In return, buyers receive marketing content, marketing on all Bean Voyage social platforms, and use of our select media contents for the sponsor’s marketing purposes. We regularly evaluate and monitor our work, and buyers will also receive our Annual Transparency report with their pledge mention.
Why buy from Bean Voyage?
There are many benefits to choosing to partner with us! We are a registered non-profit social enterprise (501(c)3 in the US and Asociación sin fines de lucro in Costa Rica) committed to holistic sustainability.
We know that sustainability in coffee can’t be achieved without striving to address areas of economics, the environment, social justice and equality.
Statistically speaking, there is a lot of evidence of why supporting womxn coffee farmers is specifically important. Women own 25% of the world’s coffee farms and form at least half of the workforce in the coffee supply chain. Yet, they earn 39% less than their male counterparts, produce lower quality yields, and are challenged with a lack of finance and gender-based discrimination in accessing training and the market.
Not only do we care about coffee quality, but we have prioritized sustainable production. We provide year-round in-person support to our producers. We have the privilege to form deep relationships with them and learn their stories, and we want to include buyers in these relationships too.
What types of coffee do we offer?
While exact details vary for each harvest, generally we offer a wide variety of coffee! We work to be flexible and collaborate with each buyer individually. We can help source coffee that meets your personal needs of quality and process.
How do buyers get the coffee?
We would love to work with you! Please send an email to hello@beanvoyage.com to get connected. Together we can create a plan on how to export the coffee to you, wherever you are in the world! We integrate exportation systems with buyers on a case-by-case basis, to get the coffee to you as seamlessly as possible.
The article was written by Abigail Miloud and edited by Abhinav Khanal & Sunghee Tark.
Abigail is a third-year Health Sciences and Globalization Studies student from McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada. She was based in Costa Rica as a McCall MacBain International Fellow, working as a program intern with Bean Voyage and studying at the Universidad de Costa Rica until March 2020.
We are a feminist social enterprise that collaborates with smallholder womxn coffee producers so that they are able to lead their communities towards a sustainable future.
For more regular updates in the following weeks, follow our Instagram page!
If you have any questions or comments, please reach out to us at hello@beanvoyage.com
