This 100% women-produced blend is a combination of a chocolatey and mild Guatemalan coffee and a citrusy Burundian. The combination is sweet and bright, with its number one attribute being balance.

Turihamwe, Burundi
The coffee from Burundi comes from a small women-owned producer group in Ngozi, where these seven entrepreneurs worked in coffee farming and earned premiums from producer and exporter group JNP Coffee (also women-owned) as part of the International Women’s Coffee Alliance (IWCA) Premium Program. The women pooled their savings to produce their first harvest and purchase a wet mill to process their coffees, and named their investment group Turihamwe, which means "together" in Kirundi.

These women didn't just open a wet mill - they opened the first wet mill owned and operated by women coffee farmers in the entire nation of Burundi. For these seven women, and thousands like them, earning premiums for specialty coffee provides financial stability so that they may support themselves, their families, and reinvest in their communities.

With the help of JNP Coffee, the IWCA, and Burundi Friends International, these coffee producers are able to participate in classes that teach financial literacy, leadership skills, and English. Such resources help these producers to develop and grow their coffee production, improve their homes and farms, pay for children's education, build savings, and invest their money overall. Rooted in strong producer partnerships, these efforts empower the farmers and their families to build resilience and expand their coffee production capacity.

One of JNP Coffee's renowned initiatives is the Dushime program, their Second Payment Day. The JNP Coffee team visits the farmers before each harvest, providing cash incentives based on the previous harvest's quality and the global market response. The second payment serves as a significant motivator, encouraging farmers to prioritize quality control. They have recently achieved a milestone of collectively paying half a million dollars in second payments since inception.

Through their continued success, the members of Turihamwe hope to increase their coffee production to over 1,200 bags annually within the next few years.

Ella, Guatemala
The other blend component comes from several smallholder women farmers in the micro-regions of Tojobats, La Vega, Tiogal, El Bosque, La Montaña in the Huehuetenango region. Nestled in the highlands of San Martin Cuchumatanes, there is a group of courageous women who dared to challenge the status quo of their community. Despite facing limited access and discrimination, they decided to embark on a journey to create a coffee that would not only bring them more financial stability but also help uplift their community.

These women, who are mothers, wives, and daughters, came together to form a collective known as "Mujeres luchando por un mejor futuro," or "Women fighting for a better future" With a lot of effort, time and hard work, they were able to gain access to the necessary resources to produce a coffee that would meet a high standard of quality.

And thus, the coffee that we now know as "ELLA" was born. The direct translation of “ELLA” into English is “SHE”, but ELLA is a coffee that represents the resilience, strength, and determination of these women. It's a coffee that's produced with care and attention to detail, reflecting the hard work and dedication of Ilse, Gresdi, Elionora, Rebeca, Lorena, Julia Cifuentes, Adhani Alba to name a few.

What “Mujeres luchando por un mejor futuro” is doing in Todos Santos is inspiring women from neighboring communities to follow their footsteps and create their own paths.