A new chapter addition to the IWCA recognizes coffee excellence and women empowerment from South Korea’s coffee community.
BY KATRINA YENTCH
BARISTA MAGAZINE ONLINE
Photos courtesy of IWCA
The International Women’s Coffee Alliance continues to grow rapidly as the industry flourishes. Since its conception in 2003, the nonprofit has worked tirelessly to empower women in the coffee industry, and is composed of independently run chapters across the world, from the Caribbean to Africa. Recently, IWCA announced a 29th addition to the organization in South Korea.
While much of the International Women’s Coffee Alliance consists of producing countries, it has a small but mighty handful of consuming-country partners. South Korea’s induction to IWCA marks it as the fifth consuming country to be part of the network, with a member count of 40 esteemed professionals. In an announcement from the nonprofit, director Dr. Sarada Krishnan exclaimed her excitement for the new addition. “I am thrilled to welcome South Korea as the 29th chapter to our global IWCA network,” she said. ”South Korea will be our fifth consuming country chapter, expanding market access for our producer members. I wish our South Korean chapter leaders much success in executing their vision.”
The president of the South Korea chapter is Sarah Kim, who comes from a long-standing background of altruism in her career. As CEO of Foosung HDS, she has been actively participating in projects that serve socially underprivileged groups. It was an arduous journey for South Korea to become a member of IWCA, due to complications by COVID and local regulations. Still, the chapter persisted, and with other leadership, has expressed the following goals in their country joining IWCA:
- Bridge the gap between producers and consumers
- Support women farmers and increase awareness of women’s rights in the coffee market
- Facilitate employment opportunities for women working in the local coffee industry
Sarah recognizes South Korea’s flourishing development as a consuming country in the specialty-coffee movement, and welcomes the opportunity for IWCA to have a major impact on the community there.
”Although Korea is a latecomer to the specialty-coffee market, it has achieved dramatic quantitative growth and ranked 12th in world coffee consumption,” she said in the same announcement. ”However, there are not enough people who understand the coffee industry. The Korean chapter will play a key role as a leader of sustainability as an emerging powerhouse of coffee consumption, be the bridge between producers and consumers to cultivate empathy and understanding, and also serve as an advocate to promote the K-coffee culture within the industry.”
Some upcoming plans for the chapter this year include:
- Hosting public cuppings twice a year to introduce Korean green buyers to women-produced coffee
- Upon feedback from other chapters, ICWA South Korea may consider providing funding for sustainability in select producing countries
- Joint research in coffee-academic studies and coffee cultivation
- Providing coffee roasting/brewing/sensory training for producing countries
We’re looking forward to seeing how South Korea makes its mark on the IWCA this year; stay tuned at womenincoffee.org for updates.
