Betty Espresso for International Women's Day

Each year, in celebration of International Women’s Day, Extract Coffee Roasters releases a limited edition espresso called Betty. Betty is all female grown and produced, which highlights the experiences of female coffee farmers, serving as a powerful symbol of inclusivity and global female empowerment.

Gender inequality remains a challenge in the coffee supply chain. Despite playing a significant role in coffee farming, women continue to come up against barriers.

Women in coffee growing countries are disproportionately impacted by gender inequality. Women are often responsible for the planting, picking and sorting of the cherries (did you know the coffee plant is a fruit tree that produces cherries and coffee beans are actually the cherry seeds?) This is skilled work; pickers need to choose the ripest cherries,and pick carefully so as not to damage the plant. 

Higher quality coffee can be sold for a significantly higher price so a skilled eye and meticulous attention to detail at this stage makes a big difference to the final price the coffee will sell for. Farm Africa says that 72% of profit is added by women through the post-harvest handling.

However, higher earning potential sits in the grading & dry processing, marketing and selling of coffee. This part of the supply chain is dominated by men. 

For this year’s Betty, Extract have sourced a washed espresso from the Terra Rosa programme in Huila, Colombia, a regional blend from 40 female smallholders. Known as the birthplace of speciality coffee in Colombia, Huila is full of rich volcanic soil and the perfect coffee growing environment. It’s here that the amazing Terra Rosa Women’s Project operates.

Working as a coffee farmer is a tricky place to be as a female in Colombia. Challenges include lack of access to funds, time and space. The Terra Rosa is a family run coffee sourcing programme that creates a safe space for these women to get together and support each other, giving them a mechanism to be able to sell their coffee and have something to be extremely proud of. As well as this, Terra Rosa also organises cuppings to continue to educate and promote increased quality in the coffee they grow.

The women’s group “Terra Rosa” is part of the Mastercol-Candelaria’s Coffee Entrepreneurs project, which seeks and makes visible the different women coffee groups that exist in Colombia to facilitate access to a sustainable market through a transparent and economically more profitable trading of their coffees and complementary products.

So let’s raise our cups to Betty and to a future where every woman in coffee has the opportunity to thrive. On International Women’s Day (9th march) we will be hosting an event at Extract’s Roastery in Bristol, where we will start the morning with yoga, then taste and learn about this year’s Betty Espresso, then sit down to a delicious brunch from Burra.

For tickets to out International Women’s Day event, click here.

For more information and sources, head over to the Extract website.