The International Women’s Coffee Alliance (IWCA) has signed a memorandum of understanding with specialty coffee organisation, the Alliance for Coffee Excellence (ACE) and premium coffee competition, the Cup of Excellence (CoE) which will focus on empowering women in the coffee industry.
The agreement seeks to do this though creating opportunities for impact and for professional development which is designed to aid with female financial success.
The MOU will also look to create healthier coffee communities through building sustainable incomes for women.
“I am very excited about this partnership between IWCA and ACE/COE which will provide opportunities for our women producers through both training and market access, leading to higher income generation while also providing unique coffees for the consumers,” says Dr. Sarada Krishnan, Executive Director of IWCA.
The first step of the partnership will see ACE identifying CoE winners that are also members of IWCA chapters to promote these producers and increase their auction premiums.
Both organisations will work together to plan marketing, educational, and promotional activities that are designed to increase awareness about ACE, IWCA, and its chapter members.
The MOU will also see both organisations sharing information and working together on mutually beneficial projects, fostering growth and development.
Susie Spindler, CoE co-founder has also joined the IWCA Board of Directors which will see organisations being able to work together seamlessly. Further plans include identifying projects with the ability to empower women and seeking funding from individuals, corporations, international development organisations, and more.
The MOU will be signed live by Darrin Daniel, Executive Director of ACE and Dr. Sarada Krishnan, Executive Director of IWCA at IWCA’s online convention following Daniel’s presentation, titled Coffee Auctions as A Marketing Tool.
“This partnership between ACE/COE and IWCA is highly important for the future of our organisations and our ability to recognise our mutual interests in supporting coffee producers, especially fostering and strengthening women in the coffee supply chain,” says Daniel.
“We are thrilled to forge this partnership and look into avenues where we can intersect and explore opportunities in research, technical education and many other ways for our organisations to build stronger relationships.”
IWCA is an organisation dedicated to women empowerment in the international coffee industry that functions through 27 independently run IWCA chapters spread across the globe.
ACE is a not-for-profit membership organisation which is dedicated to the discovery, appreciation and reward of quality coffees. The CoE is a specialty coffee competition designed to aid with discovery and rewarding of premium coffee.