OUR STORY
Jewel was raised in a small town in the Philippines called Poblacion, between the mountains and the sea. She came to the United States for college and started working in busy coffee shops, learning about everything from coffee processing methods to latte art. As her knowledge of specialty coffee deepened, so did her appreciation for the way that hospitality and camaraderie enrich the coffee experience. Over a decade-long career in coffee, she has been lucky to learn from other women in the industry, mentors who inspired her with their vast knowledge and understanding of coffee’s power to bring people together.
Jesica grew up in Colombia, raised and inspired by the strong women in her family who instilled the values she lives by today. It was her grandmother Leo who made sure to teach her respect for the Pachamama, or Mother Earth, and the people who work in and with the land.
She remembers visiting the famous fincas de café in the Coffee Triangle of the North and getting a firsthand look at the work that went into making some of the world’s most famous coffee. Jes began working in roasting, and even as she embraced a new facet of coffee production, she saw the way that women’s work in the industry was often underrepresented.
In order to bring transparency to our coffee, we thoroughly research all of our business partners and trace every aspect of the product’s journey. From the hands that planted the seeds, cultivated and harvested them, to those who import and export the coffee - we aim to trace as far and know as much as we can. We reach out directly to importers and producers, verifying their ethical practices and ensuring that they meet our standards of accountability.Â
For us, sourcing coffee ethically also means prioritizing the women who make up 70% of the coffee industry’s workers. Despite the fact that coffee production is dominated by women, their contributions are often under acknowledged and undercompensated.
Our partnerships with women-owned businesses are at the core of our production process: currently, 80% of the coffee we sell is women-produced.Â
