She's selling coffee and empowering women at the same time!
Kahawa 1893 makes history the first Black woman-owned coffee brand to be sold at Trader Joe's, according to a company press release.
Margaret Nyamumbo is the CEO and founder of Kahawa 1893, a company she started in 2017 "to provide premium, traceable Kenyan coffee to consumers." Nyamumbo is a third-generation coffee farmer, former Wall Street investment banker, and Harvard University graduate. She launched the coffee brand in California, eventually landing a deal to sell in 200 Trader Joe's stores in the state. Kahawa 1893 is now being picked up in additional regions across the U.S., making history as the first Black woman-owned coffee brand to be sold at Trader Joe's.
The brand offers several coffee blends, including Kenyan, Peaberry, Serengeti, Ethiopian, Safar, 1893 Espresso, decaf, and single-serve blends. Nyamumbo also ensured that the coffee brand would help empower African women coffee farmers with sustainable wages. In her native home, Kenya, women provide more than 90 percent of the coffee labor in the industry, according to the Kahawa 1893 site. Yet, despite their vast contribution to the thriving industry, Black women coffee farmers only own 1 percent of the farmland, something Nyamumbo hopes to change.
"When a consumer buys coffee at Trader Joe's, they can scan a QR code and send a tip to a farmer's e-wallet who will receive that money directly. Kahawa 1893 matches all tips to double the impact," Nyamumbo said.
The Kenya native took to social media to share the good news and thank her followers.
"Surprise...Kahawa 1893 is the first Black-owned, woman-owned coffee brand hitting your local Trader Joe's shelves this month! We hope you're excited because we sure are! This is a monumental move forward, not only for us, not only for the women farmers in Africa but all women and all of the Black community. Thank you all for helping us get here and being part of our journey. We still have more in store...and can't wait for you all to be with us every step of the way," she wrote.
We look forward to sipping on some Black girl magic!
To purchase your blend of Kahawa 1893, click here.
Photo Courtesy of @kahawa1893/Instagram