The retail value of the U.S. coffee market is estimated to be worth $48 billion. Another major U.S. institution is now working alongside the coffee industry in order to help less fortunate people across the globe.
Charities and nonprofits of all kinds have been an integral part of both the U.S. and global economy thanks to how much poor communities benefit from these donations. Internationally, more than 14.3 million tons of donated American textiles help clothe struggling individuals and families. Now, Big Coffee is doing its part to give back.
According to Sprudge.com, Behmor is donating roasters to the International Women’s Coffee Alliance, which supports the female laborers in developing countries were coffee is grown.
The International Trade Forum reports that women make up 70% of the fieldwork and harvesting of coffee across 15 different countries. Despite the high levels of women in this field, women are only owners of 15% of produced coffee. Because of this disparity, Behmor has teamed up with the International Women’s Coffee Alliance to empower women coffee producers by giving them the equipment they need to run their own coffee business.
Behmor gave 42 Behmor 1600 Plus Roasters and 21 Behmor Brazen Plus Coffeemakers, equipment worth $32,000. The items will be divided evenly across 21 International Women’s Coffee Alliance chapters across Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
In a statement, a Behmor representative wrote:
Many coffee farmers have never even tasted the coffee they labour all day to produce. But this isn’t just a sign of the power imbalance in the coffee supply chain: it’s also a barrier to improving coffee quality and so receiving greater prices. Without tasting the coffee they are growing, farmers cannot evaluate coffee quality, put feedback from buyers into context, and run experiments with the aims of achieving price premiums.
Around the same time, The Ocean City Exchange Club recently gave a $7,000 donation to the American Legion Post 524 to help military personnel who are currently serving overseas.
According to OCNJ Daily, The Ocean City Exchange Club gave the donation money to help fund monthly coffee express care package shipments to members of the military.
“Our main areas of focus we call the three C’s: children, community, and country,” said John Van Stone, Exchange Club Board of Director. “Today’s donation really comes under that third C.”
Whether it’s coffee donations to women’s organizations that rightly deserve higher shares of the industry, or it’s donations to help military members get their monthly caffeine fix, coffee and charitable giving now go hand in hand.