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2019 Impact Report

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We’re proud to partner with Fairtrade certified co-ops around the world—including Kabnegetuny Farmers’ Cooperative Society, where 30% of the farmers are women. In the pages that follow, we’ve shared more about how our coffee products are made, and how you’re helping us empower women coffee farmers.

Along with Fairtrade certification, what makes ME to WE Coffee That Changes Lives™ unique is that we also invest in key infrastructure and programs in the countries where our coffee is sourced—such as financial literacy and small business training for women like Rose, whose story you’ll read in the following pages. From bean to cup and back, it’s a closed-loop system that empowers women to create brighter

futures for themselves and their families. As we know so well, every dollar that a woman earns is a dollar she invests back into her household, her children and her community.

You’ll also read about Borness Mutai, a woman coffee farmer in the KabngetunyFarmers’ Cooperative Society in Kericho County, Kenya. Her powerful story of gaining more financial independence and supporting her family further underlines the incredible impact you’re helping make.

Once again: thank you for championing ME to WE Coffee That Changes Lives™. With your support, we are brewing truly transformative change in communities around the world.

On behalf of all of us at ME to WE: thank you for joining us to “brew the change” in communities globally through your incredible support of ME to WE Coffee That Changes Lives™!

A S I N C E R E T H A N K Y O U

All my best,Roxanne JoyalCEO, ME to WE

2.1 MILLION CUPS OF COFFEE SERVED = [TBC NUMBER] WOMEN AND FAMILIES’ LIVES CHANGED

2.1 Mcups of coffee served to date

360women in Kenya gained access to

1 year of financial literacy training

From left: Cyrille Jannet, VP Coffee Sourcing, KDP, Managing Director, Keurig TradingRoxanne Joyal, CEO, ME to WEGrace Maritim, Coffee FarmerStephane Glorieux, President, KDP Canada

In Kenya, you’re helping empower women with financial literacy training, ensuring they can save and invest in their future.

Without the financial means to support

themselves, families struggle to send their

children to school, put food on the table

and access health care. With your support,

we’re providing them with access to

programs, tools and resources to help

build their income-generating skills.

When WE Villages began partnering with communities in Kenya many people earned less than $1 a day.

1.. Financial literacy, business skills and

leadership training help group members learn

how to manage their finances, start small

businesses and invest in their futures.

2. Merry-go-round savings initiatives are

facilitated, where members borrow from the

group's collective savings to invest in their

households or business ventures.

3. Group members are supported to take

part in income-generating ventures such as

leasing farmland to grow maize to sell at

local markets and buying sheep to sell milk

and offspring.

4. Group members each earn a

sustainable income that allows them to

afford school supplies, access health care,

buy nutritious food, build their savings and,

ultimately, break the cycle of poverty.

H O W I T W O R K S :

ME to WE Coffee That Changes Lives™

S P O T L I G H T O N K A B N G E T U N Y F A R M E R S ’ C O O P E R A T I V E S O C I E T Y , L T D .

B E H I N D T H E B E A N S

Kabngetuny is nestled high up in the hills of

Kericho County, Kenya. Its story is unique:

typically, land is owned by men, but the men in

this co-op each gifted 50 coffee seedlings and

some land to their wives, enabling them to have

their own source of income and become

members of the co-op. Working at the co-op

also allows these women farmers to practice

new skills that enable them to further their

careers, learn how to grow new varieties of

coffee seedlings that withstand the changing

climate, and start small businesses to

supplement their income, such as growing

additional crops.

ME to WE proudly sources its premium-grade WE Villages blend of coffee from cooperatives that provide opportunity to women, like KabngetunyFarmers’ Cooperative Society, in partnership with Fairtrade coffee—ensuring an ethical, transparent supply chain and sustainable impact created every step of the way.

80%Of coffee is premium-

grade (AA, AB)

100% Fairtrade certified

300 Women farmers

Our Arabica beans are fertilized

with organic nutrients, ensuring an

exceptionally high quality.

With the premium the farmers earn

from these certified beans, they can

invest in projects that innovate their

farming practices and provide

supplemental income on top of their

fair wage.

Through the co-ops, we are

enabling women to be agents of

their own futures, providing them

with the skills that will enable them

to create a sustainable income and

grow in their careers.

R E S P O N S I B L E S O U R C I N G

One of the women farmers in Kenya

M E E T B O R N E S S M U T A I

Although Borness Mutai worked her husband’s

coffee farm every day, she didn’t own any of the

lucrative coffee seedlings. When the co-op wanted

to give women more responsibility, she didn’t

waste any time.

“My parents were coffee farmers. Growing up, I

would help in the farm when I wasn’t in school.

When I graduated from Grade 12, I married a

coffee farmer and started to work his farm

alongside him. He supplies coffee to Kabngetuny.

In 2012, the cooperative urged the men to give

some coffee seedlings to their wives so they could

start earning an income.

“When he gave me the seedlings, I knew I had to

prove myself. So I worked harder than I had ever

worked. I attended trainings by Fairtrade and

learned new farming methods. I realized we had

been pruning seedlings at the wrong time and that

switching to manure fertilizer instead of chemical

fertilizers would make my yields healthier. When

my husband saw how hard I was working and that

the yields were increasing, he gave me 300

more seedlings.

“For the first time, I had money that belonged to

me. Before this, whenever I needed anything for

the house or for my children, I would have to go

ask my husband for money. Now, I could give my

children even the small things myself. I could pay

their school fees and give them the opportunities I

didn’t have. I used to worry that I couldn’t pay

their fees. Now, my firstborn is in university, I

have two children in high school and two in

primary school.

“Earning from our hard work has given us the

chance to better our lives. The income enabled me

to buy land and plant other crops, like vegetables,

corn and beans, that I sell to my neighbors. This is

an extra source of income and it is raising our

standards of living. Other women have opened

businesses like shops. Our community is

changing.”

Thanks to the coffee farmer co-ops,

Borness’s story is an example of the

sustainable impacts being created by

empowering women.

Thanks to support like yours, women farmers in Kenya like Borness are empowered to become financially independent.

This first-person account has been condensed from an interview and translated from Swahili and Kipsigis to English.

B E A N T O C U P A N D B A C K

An entrepreneur taking part in the WE Villages financial literacy training program in Kenya

M E E T R O S E M U T A I

When Rose Mutai and the 15 other women in the

Tech Gaa Women’s Group hold their monthly

meetings over chai and donuts, called mandazi, the

women deposit their modest savings into a group

pot—the heart of their home-based banking system—

to build their personal savings and supply loans to

launch their own businesses.

For close to a decade, Rose left her home twice a

week at 4 a.m. to walk seven hours to Mekenyu,

where women buy charcoal cheaply to sell near their

villages. From 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Rose collected

charcoal, before loading her donkey with two

heaping sacks and trekking home. “Once my kids

started growing up they needed to go to school,”

explains Rose. “So we had to find the money to pay

the fees.”

Because ME to WE invests back into the countries

from where our coffee is sourced, women in rural

communities can access business opportunities that

were long-held dreams. Rose had always wanted to

run a chicken coop, selling eggs and chickens to pay

school fees while allowing her to stay at home to look

after her six children.

Rose and the other women in Tech Gaa are first-time

entrepreneurs—creating pathways of opportunity

that lead to a secure financial future. These efforts

thrive because the women support each other’s

ambitions and pool their earnings. It started with

budgeting, tracking the money coming in and going

out every month. They discussed saving, the amount

each woman could commit to depositing each

month. Next was learning about loans, how the

collective pool of money could micro-finance each

woman’s ambitions, with timeframes and agreed-

upon interest rates to pay the loan back (all interest

going back into the group’s pot, ready for re-

investment).

Armed with the financial and business-building

knowledge, Rose took out a loan in 2016 to purchase

chicken wire to build a chicken coop. Other group

members took out loans to buy goats and cows and

start a sewing business. Rose kept collecting charcoal

twice a week, using the money for school fees,

savings and to repay the loan. In 2017, after repaying

her first loan, Rose took out another loan to

purchase 14 chickens. She sold maize to buy another

14. She was all in.

With a full flock in her coop, Rose quit going for

charcoal to devote the time and energy needed to

make the start-up successful. Now, she regularly

sells eggs to neighbors who come to her home,

has several little chicks that run around her yard

and always has the option of selling one of her

hens. It’s enough for school fees, savings and loan

repayment—and a joyful pride.

From WE Day to Ecuador, Van Houtte employees are experiencing the power of purpose firsthand

At events in Ottawa and Montreal, Van Houtte

employees not only shared ME to WE Coffee That

Changes Lives™ with teachers, they also saw how

youth are taking action on local and global issues

they care about.

Held annually in over 15 cities across Canada, the

U.S., UK and Caribbean, WE Day is a celebration of

youth and educators who have made a difference.

Each event features an inspiring line-up of world-

renowned speakers, award-winning performers and

real-world stories of change.

W E D A Y

Top sales reps had the chance to win a trip to

Ecuador to experience the process behind sourcing

beans for the WE Villages coffee blend. Travellers

met coffee farmers, connected with the local

communities and saw how the impact of ME to WE

Coffee That Changes Lives™ comes to life to

empower families with the tools to create a brighter

future. Through this exciting program, Van Houtte

employees also helped drive new business as well as

re-engaged existing business to choose ME to WE

Coffee That Changes Lives™.

M E T O W E T R I P T O E C U A D O R

Thank you for the amazing experience we were able to live in Ecuador! Your team did such a terrific job welcoming us and ensuring everybody would return home with unforgettable memories.

This was by far the best trip many of us ever

made, which contributed to reinforcing the

understanding we had [of WE’s] purpose. There

is nothing like being there yourself to see how

our efforts [supporting ME to WE Coffee That

Changes Lives™] can make such a difference in

people’s lives. We are all coming back with a

different mindset and strong motivation to do

even better in 2020.”

“

— Marc-André Guérard, Sr. Principal, Marketing, Van Houtte Coffee Services

Thank you! Your support truly makes a meaningful, lasting difference in the world.