Improving the Coffee Supply Chain for Women

Summary

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Bloomberg Businessweek – Improving the Coffee Supply Chain for Women

Date: June 26, 2026
Hosts: Carol Massar & Tim Stenovec
Guest: Margaret Nya Mumbo, CEO & Founder of Kahawa 1893

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Episode Overview

This episode delves into the transformation of the global coffee supply chain with a particular focus on women's roles, empowerment, and compensation. The hosts are joined by Margaret Nya Mumbo, the founder and CEO of Kahawa 1893, a premium coffee brand that works directly with women-led coffee co-ops in Kenya, Rwanda, and Congo. The discussion explores the unique attributes of Kenyan coffee, the company’s model for direct farmer compensation, and the broader implications for gender and economic equity in the coffee industry.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Origins and Mission of Kahawa 1893

• Margaret Nya Mumbo, a third-generation coffee farmer, started Kahawa 1893 inspired by her Kenyan roots and the lack of African coffee brands in the U.S. market.
• Purpose: To share the story of East African coffee and ensure fair compensation for women, who make up the majority of coffee farm labor.
• Quote:
  "Kahawa 1893 is that brand that's really bringing East African coffee and the stories of the growers with it to the global world."
  (Margaret Nya Mumbo, 02:19)

Why Kenyan Coffee Stands Out

• Distinctive Features:
  • Unique microclimate with rich soil and Mount Kenya’s altitude.
  • Double washed processing method, leading to cleaner and richer coffee flavors.
  • High-density beans allow for dark roasting without a burnt taste.
• Quote:
  "Kenyan coffee is considered the best in the world by coffee connoisseurs...all these factors converge to produce some of the best coffee."
  (Margaret Nya Mumbo, 03:26)

Educating Consumers on Coffee Quality

• Many consumers are unaware of the origins or characteristics of premium African coffees.
• Kahawa 1893 aims to bridge that gap by offering high-quality, transparently sourced products and sharing the unique story behind them.
• Memorable Moment: Tim admits his pickiness with bad coffee, prompting a discussion on consumer education and taste (04:10–04:24).

Empowering Women in the Coffee Supply Chain

• Up to 90% of coffee farm labor is done by women, but they are often undercompensated due to volatile prices.
• Kahawa 1893 features a QR code on packaging that allows consumers to tip women farmers directly, with the company matching tips.
• This creates a direct, modern fair trade model and ensures supplemental income reaches women who need it most.
• Quote:
  "We have a QR code on the back of the bag that you can scan and tip farmers ... all that money goes back. So it’s very, very effective."
  (Margaret Nya Mumbo, 06:05)

From Wall Street to Coffee Fields

• Margaret left an investment banking career after Harvard Business School to address gender and racial equity in coffee.
• She saw a unique opportunity to leverage her finance skills and personal background for a greater cause.
• Quote:
  "I really saw that gap between bringing an African coffee brand to the market, but also being able to solve the equity, the gender and racial equity part of it."
  (Margaret Nya Mumbo, 06:54)

The Social Impact – Supporting Education

• Direct tips received by women farmers often go toward educational expenses, especially for girls.
• Margaret shares a story about visiting Kenya and witnessing scholarship programs that keep young women in school.
• Even small donations (as little as $0.20) can make the difference between continuing education and dropping out.
• Quote:
  "Being able to help the next generation of women not, you know, be picking coffee, but actually be in school so that they can develop the community has been such an amazing privilege."
  (Margaret Nya Mumbo, 08:19)

National Expansion and Distribution

• Kahawa 1893 is available online and at major retailers including Trader Joe’s, Target, Sprouts, and via direct-to-consumer channels.
• First Black and woman-owned coffee brand with national distribution in the U.S.
• Company's growth continues through both retail and office supply channels.
• Quote:
  "We're the first black and woman-owned coffee brand to have national distribution...you can find us pretty much anywhere."
  (Margaret Nya Mumbo, 08:41)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the Kenyan coffee's dark roast quality:
  "Our darkest roast... tastes... very rich and dark, but it's not burnt. That's how you know that it's a very dense bean..."
  (Margaret Nya Mumbo, 04:57)

• On the new fair trade model:
  "It's a sense of modern fair trade... if we're able to send it direct and we match the tips, all that money goes back. So it's very, very effective."
  (Margaret Nya Mumbo, 06:22)

• On social change through education:
  "This fund is really to make sure that women, the young girls in school, stay in school... make sure that they don't drop out."
  (Margaret Nya Mumbo, 07:52)

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Segment Timestamps

• Intro and Guest Welcome: 01:41–02:24
• Margaret’s Background and Brand Mission: 02:24–03:19
• Kenyan Coffee’s Uniqueness: 03:19–04:33
• Consumer Education Discussion: 04:33–05:22
• Empowering Female Farmers & Direct Tipping: 05:25–06:36
• Margaret's Career Shift & Founding Story: 06:36–07:31
• Use of Tips for Girls’ Education: 07:31–08:37
• National Distribution Strategy: 08:37–09:14

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Summary

This episode offers an inside look at how Kahawa 1893 is redefining the coffee industry by shining a spotlight on East Africa’s extraordinary beans while pioneering a new, direct compensation model for women. Margaret Nya Mumbo’s personal journey, commitment to women’s empowerment, and innovative approach to connecting consumers with growers together create a blueprint for more ethical, inclusive, and flavorful coffee supply chains worldwide.

Transcript

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[Carol Massar]

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[Tim Stannvick]

Bloomberg Audio Studios podcasts Radio news.

[Carol Massar]

You're listening to Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Massar and Tim Stanvick on Bloomberg Radio.

[Interviewer]

We get products and services from all over the world, including coffee. It's a global commodity. Coffee traders are betting Brazil's record harvest will ease a global supply crunch. But farmers in the world's top grower are in no hurry to sell beans squeezing supplies in consuming countries. This is according to a recent story from our colleagues at Bloomberg News. Margaret Nya Mumbo watches global coffee prices closely. She's founder and CEO at Kahala 1893 with partners with co ops in Kenya, Rwanda and Congo. She joins us here at Uncharted. Welcome, welcome. How are you?

[Margaret Nya Mumbo]

Yeah, thanks for having me. I'm great. It's great to be here and talk about Cahawa.

[Interviewer]

Yeah, we want to talk about premium coffee and just the niche that you have carved out. It's such a really interesting category given that the way that people consume it around the world, it's different in many parts of the world. But also the way that you've been able to partner with these local co ops for this socially responsible product. How did you do it?

[Margaret Nya Mumbo]

Yeah, so I had a background having grown up on a coffee farm in Kenya. So my grandfather started a farm and I'm third generation coffee farmer. So I immigrated to the United States and saw the culture of coffee, but there wasn't a brand like an African brand that was essentially building the story about coffee, because coffee is originally from East Africa, and we produce some of the best coffee in the world. And so Kahawa 1893 is that brand that's really bringing East African coffee and the stories of the growers with it to the global world.

[Tim Stannvick]

Coffee, there's, like, so many choices today. Tell us what makes Kenyan coffee so special and so particular.

[Margaret Nya Mumbo]

Yeah. So Kenyan coffee is considered the best in the world by coffee connoisseurs. And the reason for that is because it's a very special microclimate. So we have Mount Kenya. It's right on the equator, and we have amazing soil. So all these factors converge to produce some of the best coffee. But also the farmers do an amazing job of making sure they're picking only the ripe cherries. And the way that they process, Kenya has a special processing. It's called double washed. So they. They ferment the coffee for 24 hours, wash it again twice, which is unique. It's a Kenyan unique metal called double washed. Produces some of the cleanest coffee that any coffee corner. So when they taste them on the table, they're able to tell that they're Kenyan coffee.

[Tim Stannvick]

I didn't know if you know, but this one is a. Of a coffee connoisseur. Okay.

[Interviewer]

Yeah. Carol warned me this morning. She's like, you're not going to like the coffee that they. That they have on offer.

[Tim Stannvick]

I will drink just about anything but this one. I'm like, no, no, no, no.

[Interviewer]

But you. But Carol actually brings up a good point, which is about educating the consumer. Does the consumer realize that the Kenyan coffee story and how good that coffee

[Tim Stannvick]

is in Costa Rica, and they're like, this is the best coffee. So, like, help us.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

Yeah.

[Margaret Nya Mumbo]

So, I mean, that's part of the reason we have the brand with Kahawa. We're really educating the consumers.

[Interviewer]

And.

[Margaret Nya Mumbo]

And one easy way is when they taste the coffee, they can really taste the difference. So one distinct thing about Kenyan coffee is because it's grown at such high altitudes, because it's mountainous, we can roast it really dark without burning it. So you know how people say, like, burnt coffee, right?

[Tim Stannvick]

Yes.

[Margaret Nya Mumbo]

So our darkest roast, which is that we call our Serengeti blend, when people taste it, they're like, oh, my God. This, like, tastes, like, very rich and, you know, and dark, but it's not burnt. So that's how you know that, like, it's a very dense bean because it also grows for like nine months out of a year. So you get a very, like, super high quality. People don't always know, of course, because, you know, Kenya is a newer and smaller country for coffee production.

[Tim Stannvick]

Right.

[Margaret Nya Mumbo]

But once they taste it, they're able to, like, tell the difference. Yeah.

[Tim Stannvick]

So there's one thing, your mission of providing a product. Right. But you're also, you know, it's of giving back and helping your farmers. Tell us bit. A little bit about what you guys are doing there.

[Margaret Nya Mumbo]

Yeah. So essentially, one of the reasons I founded Cahawa was when I was growing up on the coffee farm in Kenya, I saw that a lot of the labor came from women. So up to 90% of farm labor in general for coffee comes from women. But they're not always compensated because coffee prices are always fluctuating. Sometimes they're too low. So I wanted to find a way to make sure that the women behind the coffee are compensated. So we have a QR code on the back of the bag that you can scan and tip farmers. And we have people, people love doing that.

[Tim Stannvick]

They give tips to farmers.

[Margaret Nya Mumbo]

Yes. The way that you can tip your barista or server, you know, you send in an extra $2, $10 and that money goes back to the women farmers

[Interviewer]

because it wouldn't be economically viable for you to raise the prices. No, it wouldn't, you know, account for what you think the tips should actually be.

[Margaret Nya Mumbo]

Yes. Yeah. So it's a sense of modern fair trade, because traditional, traditional fair trade, you know, third party, the money goes back through the chain. But if we're able to send it direct and we match the tips, all that money goes back. So it's very, very effective.

[Interviewer]

You've got, you shared with us some of your story. You left out parts of your story too, which is that you left an investment banking career after graduating from Harvard Business School to start this coffee company. What was the moment that you, you were, you know, doing the investment banking work and you said, I want to go out on my own and do this thing that's completely different.

[Margaret Nya Mumbo]

Yeah, so I'll go back to your

[Tim Stannvick]

roots, it sounds like.

[Margaret Nya Mumbo]

Yeah. So I was doing, you know, after business school, I started out my career in investment banking and I was covering consumer companies. So I got really interested in building my own brand, building something from scratch. And so coffee for me was a natural because I had grown up around it. And I really saw that, that gap between, like bringing an African coffee brand to the market, but also being able to solve the equity, the gender and racial equity part of it. Yeah. So it was a very. It was a problem that I wanted to solve. And I saw that my skill set coming from banking, which has been amazing, to be able to utilize that as I build a company.

[Tim Stannvick]

You know, talking to someone like you, it always, you know, the perspective that you give us because, you know, looking at the notes that your team shared with us.

[Margaret Nya Mumbo]

Yeah.

[Tim Stannvick]

The farmers who get the tips, I mean, they're doing that obviously for supplemental income.

[Margaret Nya Mumbo]

Right.

[Tim Stannvick]

To help out their families.

[Margaret Nya Mumbo]

Yeah.

[Tim Stannvick]

But it's educational costs for schools for girls in particular. Like, that's what this money goes for.

[Margaret Nya Mumbo]

Yeah. So one of the things I'm really proud of, and you know, last time I was Kenya, I was able to witness is a scholarship program. So the women in the community, you know, decided to use the funds to make sure that the young women in the community stay in school. So sometimes, you know, when a girl drops out of school, even for like something as little as 20 cents, it's harder for them to catch up. Right. So this fund is really to make sure that the women, the young girls in school stay in school. And this fund helps them make sure that they don't drop out. And I mean, I used to be in that position. Right. And so being able to help the next generation of women not, you know, be picking coffee, but actually be in school so that they can develop the community has been such an amazing privilege to be able to see that.

[Interviewer]

Before we let you go, the distribution strategy for Kahawa 1893. What is it?

[Margaret Nya Mumbo]

Yeah, so we're nationally distributed. So, you know, we're Trader Joe's, you know, Target Sprouts online. We're the first black and woman on coffee brand to have national distribution. Of course, we own Shark Tank and we also have a direct to consumer business. We actually do serve offices in all of the, you know, New York area as well. And we're available online as well. So we're pretty diversified and you can find us pretty much anywhere.

[Carol Massar]

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