Announcing the Launch of the First Women-Powered Coffee Coalition
Lucía Gómez Jirón, from San José del Carmen, Pantelhó, in Chiapas. Photo by Alexa Romano
Three hours up roads that thin to suggestions, past the city and past the cell phone signals, Doña Carmen tends her farm in the highlands of Chiapas, Mexico. Last harvest, her coffee scored 86.60 points on cupping by a Q grader — a score classified as "excellent." Her beans crossed mountains and oceans to reach buyers in cities around the world. And yet, school fees remain a stretch and doctor visits are carefully planned. A woman of the Tzotzil community, she is a steward of both the land and a culture far older than the coffee trade — and still, no cupping score has yet solved the arithmetic of providing for her family.
If this excellent coffee — this awarded, storied, specialty coffee — cannot change the lives of the people who grow it, what exactly are we calling "specialty"?
To address this challenge, Bean Voyage today announces the formation of the first Women-Powered Coffee Coalition: a five-partner program providing technical training, seed capital, and direct buyer access to support approximately 500 women smallholder farmers across coffee producer groups in Chiapas. The program is built on a simple theory that quality without economic justice is an industry problem, not a farmer problem; and on the conviction that short term interventions have failed because they try to focus on one barrier at a time.
The coalition brings together a mix of nonprofit organizations, funder partners and private industry to maximize expertise and reach – Bean Voyage (program lead), the Coffee Quality Institute (CQI), Coffee Circle, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, and Falcon Specialty.
"Women in Chiapas do the hardest work in coffee and receive the least of its rewards. This program is designed to close that gap, not with a single element, but with a market-focused bundle of services that actually increases income." said Itzel Mendoza Olmos, Head of Country (Mexico), Bean Voyage.
Women producers in Chiapas face a triple barrier: limited knowledge of post-harvest processing techniques that add value to their coffee, access to capital to act on that knowledge, and relationships with buyers who pay specialty prices. What is new is a model that addresses all three at once, with accountability for outcomes.
The centrepiece of the market access component is the Women-Powered Coffee Summit, October 15-17, 2026, in San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico, a three-day event where 150 women producers will connect, co-create, and collaborate towards a more equitable coffee industry. The evening before the Summit opens, CQI will host an intimate matchmaking dinner for 25 select buyers and 25 producers designed to create real commercial relationships before the formal program begins. Coffee Circle will deliver a dedicated market access session, offering producers a buyer's-eye view of how post-harvest decisions affect commercial outcomes.
The Farmer School Chiapas 2026–2027 will run from June 2026 through July 2027, supporting six women-led producer associations through monthly workshops, matched seed grants, and a full export facilitation service — from quality verification through to direct payment, managed end-to-end by Bean Voyage in collaboration with local partners.
"We plant not only with our hands, but with our hearts. When we plant coffee, we plant respect, patience, and the union of women. It is not only production. It is caring for what our ancestors left us so that we can keep walking with dignity." — Maruch (María Hernández Gómez), Tseltal producer, San Juan Cancuc, Chiapas.
The Women-Powered Coalition was named for what the specialty industry has too often withheld from the women who build it. Whether a score of 86.60 can pay for school fees, or a doctor visit, or the specific, unceasing cost of raising five orphaned children in the Chiapas highlands — that is the question this program intends to answer.
About the Coalition Partners
Bean Voyage is a non-profit organisation founded in 2019, working with women smallholder coffee farmers in Mexico, Costa Rica, Colombia, and Honduras. Since 2019, Bean Voyage has graduated 1,383 women from its Farmer School, deployed over USD 150,000 in seed capital, and facilitated direct export of 120+ tonnes of women-produced coffee to specialty buyers worldwide. www.beanvoyage.org
W.K. Kellogg Foundation is a leading philanthropic organisation working with communities to create conditions for vulnerable children to thrive. The Foundation supports transformative programs across health, food, and economic security in the United States, Latin America, and Haiti. www.wkkf.org
Coffee Quality Institute (CQI) is a non-profit organisation working internationally to improve the quality of coffee and the lives of the people who produce it. CQI provides training, certification, and technical assistance across the global coffee supply stream through its Post-harvest Processing education program, In-Country Partners and Coffee Corps volunteer network. www.coffeeinstitute.org
Coffee Circle is a Berlin-based specialty coffee company committed to direct, transparent relationships with coffee farmers. Since 2010, Coffee Circle has invested over EUR 5 million back into coffee-growing communities through its 1€ per 1kg sold donation model. www.coffeecircle.com
Falcon Specialty is a specialty green coffee importer committed to building and fostering equitable supply chains for mutual profit and positive outcomes. Falcon works closely with producing communities and roasters around the world to build long-term, transparent supply chain relationships. www.falconcoffees.com
For media enquiries or to arrange interviews with producers before the Summit, contact: hello@beanvoyage.org
