VIENNA, Austria – This October, Viennese premium coffee roaster Julius Meinl, is launching an initiative as part of its The Originals coffee line, which this World Coffee Day is set to help empower coffee farmers in Uganda. The initiative, which builds on the success of Julius Meinl’s Generations Program, aims to promote best practices amongst coffee farmers to help them enrich productivity, invest in growing greater quality beans, and to spot opportunities to diversify their incomes, which collectively have been designed to leave a lasting impact on farmers’ and communities’ livelihoods.
Julius Meinl help empower coffee farmers in Uganda
The Generations program was created to give farmers tailored support to set up sustainable businesses and to pass on their coffee knowledge from generation to generation. Since 2018, it has been fundamental to Julius Meinl achieving its ambition of providing bespoke training that is designed to enact real, on-the-ground change, and improve the lives of the farmers it works with in the Tolima Region of Colombia.
Now, the aim is to scale-up these initiatives by expanding to more countries of origin to have an even greater sustainable impact on coffee-growing communities into the future.
For World Coffee Day, the iconic Vienna coffee house brand is supporting 100 more coffee farmers, this time in the Lwengo District of Uganda.
This is in addition to the ongoing commitment and to the existing 200 Colombian farmers – increased from 50 earlier this year – who are already in line for support between now and 2025.
Over the three-year period, the initiative will focus on regenerative agriculture and low carbon production, which will contribute to the fifth-generation coffee company’s commitment to making every cup of its coffee more sustainable for people and for the planet.
By 2025, Julius Meinl is committed to source 100% Responsibly Selected Coffee, which is why initiatives such as this are so important as it works hand-in-hand with coffee farmers to keep improving their social-environmental practices and sustainability standards, whilst also supporting them to increase production efficiency and profitability.
The Originals coffee line derives from the unique concept that “Every bean has a story, made by artisans for artisans”, and is designed for hospitality businesses who are committed to serving their guests a premium quality, sustainable cup of coffee.
Earlier this year, Julius Meinl launched six The Originals blends of which three are double-certified, which means they are both Bio – a technique which sees that every coffee bean is nurtured through responsible, organic agricultural processes, and Fairtrade – which sees farmers receive a fair price for their coffee crops. Three of the six blends support the Generations Program.
To offer a more bespoke experience and ensure the individual training needs of the coffee farmers are met, Julius Meinl has partnered with Ugandan not-for-profit organisation, Sawa World.
This will see Sawa World initiate the training by conducting a needs assessment to better identify which skills will add the most value so they can tailor learning modules to individual farmer’s experiences. Following this, a series of three three-day workshops will be held, focusing on key areas such as sensitization, marketing and business management skills, while also offering guidance on securing start-up capital and sourcing the necessary materials to create a successful coffee business.
In order to build longevity, valuable refresher sessions will also be available to the farmers to help reinforce their skills.
With the campaign seeking to ‘make a difference, one cup at a time’, Julius Meinl is donating an extra 10 hours of training to coffee farmers on behalf of every existing and new partner serving Generations Program blends.
The global celebration is a great opportunity for both the hospitality industry and customers alike to contribute to meaningful change. After all, Julius Meinl coffee promises so much more than the exquisite taste of its Generation Program blends and superior customer service, as participating outlets will benefit from the knowledge that they are choosing better for the planet too.
Carina Needham, Director of Sustainability at Julius Meinl, said: “At Julius Meinl, our goal is not only to create delicious, memorable coffee moments, but to do our bit to protect the planet and act responsibly for future generations. Our Generations Program is an important part of this commitment and focuses on making a lasting impact for the coffee-growing communities.
Needham continues: “Together with Sawa World, we can really create transformative community-level projects and make a difference to the livelihoods of coffee farmers in Uganda. Supporting and strengthening coffee-growing communities is essential, especially given some of the many social, economic, and environmental challenges they may face, from unpredictable incomes to climate crisis.”
Sheila Ampumuza, Country Director at Sawa World added: “We are delighted to be working with Julius Meinl in supporting their efforts to cultivate sustainable growth. The Generations Program is a fantastic initiative and is already making an impact on the livelihoods of coffee farmers in other parts of the world.”
With World Coffee Day being celebrated on 1st October 2023, the initiative will run throughout September until 31st October, during which Julius Meinl will be offering a string of promotions for partners who choose The Originals blend in support of the campaign in Uganda. To find out more about Julius Meinl’s commitment to sustainability, click here.
