Press Release: U.S. Embassy in Costa Rica and Bean Voyage Partner to Organize the First Womxn-POWERed Coffee Summit in Costa Rica

Press Release

San José - July 11, 2022 - Bean Voyage, in collaboration with the U.S Embassy in San Jose, with the support of the State Department’s Providing Opportunities for Women’s Economic Rise (POWER) initiative, is hosting the first Womxn-POWERed Coffee Summit at the Doka Estate in Alajuela, Costa Rica on August 11 - 12.  POWER connects the U.S. private sector with U.S. overseas missions to help women business leaders in the United States and abroad develop partnerships in emerging markets that help them explore new opportunities and implement competitive strategies in key sectors.

As part of the two-day summit, smallholder women coffee producers in Bean Voyage’s network will convene and connect with women coffee roasters, cuppers, and baristas from various parts of the United States. As part of the convening, there will be panels on a variety of topics: from supply chains from the perspective of smallholder women to women coffee roasters, building the negotiating table, and a roaster roundtable consisting of women roasters from the United States and Costa Rica. 

There are also Care Talks – a set of presentations and workshops offered by subject matter experts on topics such as pricing, storytelling, and cupping of coffee with the goal to promote shared learning and collaboration between producers and buyers of coffee. 

The event will also be the first in-person premiere of Más que un café (Stronger than Coffee), which is a participatory film project co-led by Bean Voyage and Needle & Frame sharing the stories of five smallholder women coffee producers from Costa Rica and how they are building thriving coffee businesses in their communities. 

The event aspires to create a safe space for coffee producers and coffee professionals to exchange ideas, share experiences, and promote sustainable and long-lasting partnerships that benefit both producers and buyers of coffee.  The goal of this summit is to bring together U.S. and Costa Rica women in the coffee industry to share best practices and challenges in an industry traditionally dominated by men.  Through the new networks connected, and via collaboration to open new markets, both groups of women will prosper economically.      

“When we started Bean Voyage, we dreamed of an opportunity for smallholder women coffee producers to meet with, and build direct relationships with the people that are often at the other end of the supply chain – roasters and baristas. We wanted to design an event with the producers as the primary participants in mind. The opportunity to collaborate with the U.S Embassy and POWER has allowed us to put that dream into action – and allow for us to offer a platform for women coffee producers in Costa Rica to learn, exchange, and connect with coffee professionals from the United States of America,” said Sunghee Tark, co-Founder & CEO of Bean Voyage.

“Costa Rica is world famous for its coffee exports, but women coffee farmers earn less than their male counterparts. The State Department’s POWER initiative helps women business leaders develop partnerships. During the summit, Costa Rican coffee producers will increase their capacities and networks to expand export opportunities to the United States, and U.S. women roasters will foster relationships that help them promote their products to socially motivated consumers.  By focusing on our shared values, from our robust trade relationship to our belief in the power of women’s entrepreneurship, both our countries prosper together,” said Jesse Golland, Economic Officer at the U.S. Embassy in San Jose.    

This event is made possible with the generous contribution of the U.S. Government via the State Department’s POWER initiative, along with the support of U.S based company MiiR, The Coffee Source, Falcon Coffee, The Coffee Institute of Costa Rica, and Doka Estate.

For press questions please contact: 

Bean Voyage

Abhinav Khanal, Executive Director

abhinav@beanvoyage.org; +506 72241205

U.S Embassy 

Evelyn Ardon, Press and Media Specialist

ArdonAM@state.gov; +506 2519-2042

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About Bean Voyage: Bean Voyage is a feminist non-profit social enterprise on a mission to ensure thriving income for smallholder women coffee farmers. For generations, women coffee farmers have earned less than their male counterparts. Excluded from access to information and market opportunities, women farmers face significant challenges to mitigate the risks of climate change and a volatile economy. In an effort to break the cycle of poverty affecting coffee-farming communities and support women farmers in leading a thriving livelihood, Bean Voyage works to increase their access to training, finance, and market access.