Introducing Lotus Blend, our newest offering highlighting women-produced coffees. Temple Coffee Roasters’ Farm-to-Cup sourcing model was founded on three pillars of sustainability: Social, Economic, and Environmental. Temple remains committed to continuing our concerted effort to grow our Social pillar and principles by supporting gender equality, equity, and inclusivity in the coffee industry, where women make up 70% of the coffee workforce. We have had the privilege of partnering with some of the industry's best women producers from Rwanda, Burundi, Guatemala, Honduras, Brazil, and Colombia.
We are proud to introduce this coffee, which is a blend of Latin American and African coffees from women producers, to increase our purchasing and ongoing support for our valued partners.
This coffee project partners with the following producers:
Brazil Donas do Cafe project is an association of women producers and members of the Cooxupé cooperative and SMC. This is our first year partnering together, and our Director of Coffee recently visited the farm this past summer. Fazenda Monte Alto was established in 1889, having been passed down for 9 generations in the Ribeiro do Valle family. 50% of the farm is used for growing coffee, while the other half is dedicated to preserving native forests. They employ 45 employees year-round (30 families live on the property) who tend to the farm and historic house and hire another 30 pickers during the busy harvest season. On our visit, Julia Valle gave us a tour of the mechanical harvester and dry mill. She also showed us the wildlife corridor for birds and migratory animals, waterfalls, and a greenhouse for native plants and flowers. Julia contributes coffee to the Donas do Cafe project, an association of Women Coffee producers organized by our import partner SMC Specialty Coffee.
Burundi Turihamwe is an association of women farmers in the Ngozi province working together to build up their community. Meaning “together we can” in the Kirundi language, Turihamwe is a small investor group started by seven women coffee producers in the Ngozi region of Burundi in 2019. This will be our 4th year partnering together. For many years, these seven entrepreneurs worked in coffee farming and earned premiums from the producer and exporter group JNP Coffee as part of the International Women’s Coffee Alliance (IWCA) Premium Program. Over time, the Turihamwe Turashobora group gathered their funds and built their own wet mill to process their coffees. For these seven women and thousands like them, earning premiums for specialty coffee provides financial stability so that they may support themselves and their families and reinvest in their communities.
Rwanda Rambagirakawa is comprised of 200 members from the Gakenke province, part of the Dukundekawa cooperative. This will be our 4th year partnering together. Rambagirakawa started in 2012 and is a sub-group of the larger Dukundekawa cooperative, which has approximately 1,400 members. Meaning “women owning and growing coffee trees professionally” in the Kinyarwanda language, Rambagirakawa was formed to instill greater gender equity within Dukundekawa. Members are also provided quality control tools, such as an on-site cupping lab, where a trained cupper can evaluate the quality of a producer’s coffee and, therefore, help to determine its potential value.
Honduras AMPROCAL is an association of women producers and business owners from the Ocotopeque region. This will be our 6th year partnering together. AMPROCAL (Asociación de Mujeres Procesadoras de Café la Labor) is recognized for being the only 100% women-produced association in the region. The organization was established in 2007 to promote the sale of certified coffees from women producers and provide microfinancing opportunities to its members. Initially, the association was founded by ten women but has now grown to a membership of about 175 individuals and provides thirteen permanent and 500 seasonal employment. In addition to financial and entrepreneurial support, AMPROCAL provides agronomic assistance to help improve coffee quality, productivity, and sustainability. Aside from coffee farming, AMPROCAL has been running a successful wholesale roasting operation and cafe serving the town of La Labor and providing more jobs for the community.
Guatemala La Morena is from women coffee producers in the Huehuetenango region. This will be our 3rd year partnering together. Huehuetenango is one of Guatemala's three non-volcanic regions and its highest and driest under cultivation, making it one of the best for coffee production. Between 20 and 30 percent of coffee farms are female-operated, and up to 70 percent of labor in coffee production is provided by women, depending on the region. Produced exclusively by female farmers, La Morena is also a Volcafe Way coffee. Since they joined the program, the farmers have increased the quality of their coffee, increased their yields, and, as a consequence, started earning more. In teaching them best practices, their farms are turning out excellent coffee and becoming viable businesses.
Temple Coffee will be providing ongoing donations of .50 per unit sold to organizations that directly support the coffee community. Our first partner for our Lotus blend is the International Women's Coffee Alliance (IWCA). We have been a proud supporter of the IWCA for over a decade, since 2014. The IWCA focuses on uniting a global network of chapters and supporting the work and growth of women in the international coffee community.
