Kerry, a taste and nutrition company, is now working with Café Femenino as a primary sponsor and extraction partner of the foundation globally. The initiative is a community-based program in coffee-growing regions aiming to ending the cycle of poverty that affects female coffee farmers around the world. As part of this partnership, Kerry will provide access to its global distribution network for the group’s coffee production. Café Femenino is based in nine countries, including Peru, Sumatra (Indonesia), Brazil, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Bolivia, Mexico, Colombia and Rwanda.

Commenting on the partnership, Leigh Anne Vaughan, Global Strategic Marketing Director, Taste at Kerry, said: “With this partnership, our customers anywher in the world can now access and support the distinctive taste of the premium fair-trade coffee produced using high-quality, organic-certified coffee beans from women growers in Sumatra and Peru. Consumers can also be assured that the women responsible for the production of the coffee beans have been compensated directly for their work, and also provided the opportunity and resources to enact positive change in their home communities and on their own terms. Through this partnership, Kerry will be the only company worldwide creating coffee extracts from the beans of Café Femenino growers. Kerry is delighted to partner with the Café Femenino community program.”

Sabina Cecanop, founding President of Café Femenino Peru, said: “We have used the money we’ve received from the Café Femenino premium to invest in improving our homes, providing education for our daughters, and improving the food we feed our families. Café Femenino has been wonderful in improving the self-esteem and empowerment of women in the community.”

As part of the organisations efforts, local programmes help female farmer members receive payments and payment premiums directly, and assume leadership roles in co-op voting and on boards. The members also secure rights to the land they farm to produce Fair Trade Certified and organic-certified coffees. The partnership further strengthens Kerry’s sustainability programme, the company says, showcasing its continued commitment to improving the livelihoods of suppliers and their communities.