Women make up an estimated 70% of the global coffee workforce, yet own or run just 20% of coffee farms. Even when women do run a farm, they typically have significantly less access to land, finance, and agronomic training than their male counterparts.
As the coffee industry grapples with climate volatility, rising costs, and tightening supply, that imbalance is no longer just a moral issue. It puts the whole sector at risk. If women are doing most of the work without equal resources, the industry is actively limiting its own quality and growth.
At Pact Coffee, we’ve seen the upside of addressing this imbalance first-hand. Expanding direct relationships with more of the world’s most talented women growers has pushed quality further and broadened the range of exceptional speciality coffee we can offer coffee drinkers in the UK.
Visibility from farm to cup
Since 2024, we’ve committed to sourcing a minimum of 50% of our coffee from women producers or gender-equity groups. In 2025, we surpassed this, reaching 60%. This year, we formalised this work under one banner: Equal Ground Project.
To mark International Women’s Day, 100% of our core range throughout March 2026 is sourced from women growers and gender-equity groups – a record 45 tonnes in a single month. It turns long-term sourcing strategy into a visible signal, showing customers, partners, and the industry what intentional sourcing decisions can achieve.
Long-term contracts and direct trade with women-led farms and co-operatives also facilitate access to finance, quality improvements and the planting of pioneering sustainable coffee varieties on the farm.
Close, direct relationships also give us full visibility from farm to cup, so we can track the social and economic impact of our sourcing with clear, verifiable data. Cutting out intermediaries, and working directly with growers, will give likeminded roasters the same.
We paid the producers in Mirtayu Women’s Project in Colombia, for example, 112% above the Fairtrade base price this year. They’re paid directly into their bank accounts, so the premium for quality stays with the women producing the coffee.
Supply risks
In an era defined by price spikes and climate-driven shortages, stable, mutually beneficial relationships are worth their weight in gold. If your supply chain excludes the very people doing the work, you aren’t just failing a moral test – you’re opening yourself up to a significant supply risk.
Crucially, the real lever for change sits not only with brands, but with buyers, too. Range reviews and sourcing policies determine which producers gain access to supermarket shelves. If gender equity is embedded into those decisions, whether through minimum thresholds, dedicated listings or longer-term contracts, systemic change follows.
Addressing gender imbalance through intentional sourcing won’t fix every structural issue overnight, but it’s a pragmatic, commercially successful way to work towards an industry that values men and women equally.
Women are already the backbone of global coffee production. The question for UK retail is whether we continue to overlook that fact or use our buying power to build a more sustainable, higher-quality and, ultimately, more profitable coffee sector.
Sophie Reid is chief commercial officer at Pact Coffee
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