From the Field, New Arrivals
Tuesday, February 5, 2019
Drink Better Coffee; Support Women as Professionals
Want to buy and drink even better coffee? Keep reading for our primer on how increasing gender equity can lead to more and better coffee. Last week we explored gender inequality in producing countries and learned that increasing gender equity can lead to producing more coffee. This week, let’s dive into gender in coffee service, specifically in consuming countries and see how increasing gender equity can lead to better and more innovative coffee.
Unlocking Coffee's Potential
For women in the field of specialty coffee, attaining education, recognition and positions of management is significantly more difficult than it is for men. In the industry this can be seen in the gender gap between the contestants at the World Barista Championship (WBC): in the nineteen years that WBC has been running, only one WBC winner (2018’s Agnieszka Rojewska) has been female while of the 65 contestants in 2016, 52 were men and only 13 were women. If we’re missing out on the talent of 50% of the potential workforce, we’re shackling coffee’s potential along with the potential of millions of female-identifying baristas.
Take a Step Towards Better Coffee...
While we work for more equality in the specialty coffee industry, consider the continued impact of supporting women in producing countries in light of our new understanding of professionalism and gender. Women in producing countries often perform different tasks than men, but new initiatives are endeavoring to change that. As we know, women are equally as capable in production, business management and financial astuteness as men, but are often not given the chance to demonstrate and improve their abilities.