One hundred thousand cups of coffee ☕

Have you ever done a coffee tasting before?

Picture a neat row of small cups. Steam rises, bringing the comforting smell of coffee mixed with vibrant notes of peach, honey, and chocolate. Then, the sharp slurp, coating the palate as you evaluate the quality of the bean.

A tasting allows you to learn about the complexities of coffee, and what makes an exceptional bean.

Your support made it possible for 50 female coffee farmers in Honduras to step up to the tasting table for the first time.

Your support — and with support from MCIC — allowed these women to attend a Coffee Quality Bootcamp. For many, it was an eye-opening experience. They discovered that the beans they labour over year-round were already exceptional, they just didn’t know it. Now they know how valuable their coffee is, how to improve future crops, and how to bypass middlemen to sell directly to specialty buyers.

iDE partnered with Bean Voyage, an organization specializing in supporting female coffee farmers in Latin America. Together with you, we stood alongside these women as they claimed their rightful place in an industry often dominated by men.

The results of your investment are staggering. During the Bootcamp, the women sold their beans for more than 10 times the local market rate. Together, they sold 5,100 lbs of beans. That’s enough to brew over 100,000 cups of coffee, and a massive step forward in their journey to prosperity.

But your impact didn’t stop at the coffee farm.

Because you care about the holistic well-being of these women, the iDE Honduras team worked with them to diversify their income. Today, they are raising chickens and growing high-value crops like avocados, sweet potatoes, and onions. If storms, pests, or drought hits their coffee crops, their families are protected because they have other ways to earn a living.

Your generosity also extended to their homes. The women learned how to feed their families more nutritious meals, like making tortillas fortified with carrots. They also got hygiene training and water filters, to decrease illnesses caused by unclean water and germs. 

You make this work possible. You gave these 50 women the tools, and they are changing their futures with them.