Hello! What’s your name, what’s your position, and where do you work?

My name is Manoela Dueñas, sustainability analyst at Olam Coffee Brazil.

My name is Daniela Cardoso Rego, I am a manager and Q Arabica Grader at Olam coffee in Brazil.

Describe your history in coffee. How did you learn to do what you do?

Manoela: I started in coffee business in March 2018 at Olam Specialty coffee division as an intern. All I know about coffee is thanks to my experiences during my work.

Daniela: I was hired in early 2005 by Studen & CO, a Company with Austrian and Bosnian shares looking for an alternative to the WTO dispute over export subsidies on sugar. 

The goal was to have an office and activities established in Brazil. It was quickly achieved, and the role of the general manager had to be enlarged with a new product/commodity to the books. Among the options, coffee stood out. Not for nothing. My father, a well-known Brazilian sugar trader, also had his days in coffee, which enriched our childhood with frequent visits and vacations spent at coffee farms. 

In December 2005 I had my debut in coffee, purchasing the first container to be shipped to the Balkans. The company already had an expressive food distributing foot, and naturally, coffee was poured in the region with easy 10 containers a month on the books. I became addicted to the business and a coffee lover.

In early 2019 I was offered by Olam the role of Specialty Coffee Manager and the challenge was to have the department restructured, operations flowing, projects in place, volume increased and, the best possible challenge, to become a Q-Grader! Coffee turned into oxygen to my senses.

Daniela, what was your Q experience like? What aspects of the sensory experience made you so excited? 

Daniela: A mind-blowing surprise! Going blindly from the fragrance, aroma, texture, and flavor touching the palate to the aftertaste – a journey I want to be in every time possible. The excitement arises from the combination of stages towards the description of a cup, and the richness of the ritual, which I am not sure I can place how the senses are enjoyably exercised into words. What I can affirm is that the cupping sessions I had the chance to be part of, before the Q, have been enriched in my memory after going through the days of the course and tests. I took the Q in Brazil with coffee from different origins and also from Brazil presented throughout the week. The diversity and complexity of cups influenced by geography, climate, agricultural practices, love, and even the Q grader's emotional conditions are still to be scientifically fully comprehended. 

What do you like the most about your job? About coffee? About your country?

Manoela: I did my major in forestry and I always wanted to work on the sustainability department. I moved from the Olam Specialty coffee department to the sustainability department in January last year. Now I have direct contact with the producers and I learn a lot from them. What I most like about my job is the positive impact it has on the producers’ lives. Our project Café Delas is one great example of it. We buy specialty coffee from women producers and we invest 3 cents/lb for every sale of this coffee (Café Delas) in initiatives that promotes gender equality and empowers women in the field. It’s grateful to talk to producers who have been part of our actions and see how the actions had a great impact: they feel more motivated, willing to take a leadership position on their coffee production (talking about family farming). What I like the most about coffee is the love the producers have with their production. The care, the love they have is inexplicable. Being able to pass on this care, this story to customers. To transmit how the coffee was made, how the producer started.  It’s really gratifying.

Daniela: People and the experiences exchanged; Coffee itself – Flavor and emotions awakened by it; Brazil offers the widest blend of people, emotions, and experiences. I love this country!

I love that, the widest blend of people and experiences! What do you think is a part of your culture that brings this together so well? 

Daniela: Brazil is the nation with the widest social diversity – race, way of life, culture, social classes and it is visible to the eyes visiting the producing regions as well as coming to the office in Santos, Olam’s coffee headquarters in Brazil. The city at first was constituted by Portuguese, Spanish, indigenous, blacks and their descendants. At the beginning of the 19th century, the population received European immigrants, mostly Portuguese, Spanish, Italians, Syrians, and Lebanese, incorporated into the activities of the coffee port and commerce. This blend and acceptance of differences are essential to the development, which favors the freedom and equity of any kind. Although there is a long way to go the journey is colorful.

What is Cafe Delas? You explain that there's an economic benefit to the program, a kind of premium paid for female producers. Are there other aspects of the program? Do you hold regular workshops or training sessions? 

Manoela: Our initiatives on gender equality started in 2016 in the Paraná state (south of Brazil) with a project called “Flor do Café”. We supported women producers with trainings and workshops. Also with social and environmental actions such as water analysis for potability and donation of domestic sewage treatment.

During the project, we realized that women are highly detailed and quality-oriented.  So in March 2018, we created Café Delas = a specialty coffee produced by women.

Café Delas is 100% traceable to the farm level. It gives transparency but also the visibility of the women’s work to the client. The coffee is fully billed by women and paid directly into her bank account. And the producers must work with coffee and play a relevant role on the farm. For every sale of Café Delas Olam invests 3 cents/lb in initiatives that promote gender equality and empowers women in the field.

Initiatives are trainings (for example coffee quality trainings) meetings and events for women producers.

Describe your team in your job. Who do you work with? Who can you ask for help, support, or training? Are there female leaders in your company?

Manoela: I work mainly with the sustainability team, often with the specialty coffee and commercial team as well. The sustainability team always help each other and share our experiences and learnings. I have the total support of my supervisor Ana Carolina and the support of our manager Taciana Bolzan whenever I need it. The support of other departments as well. When I started I learned a lot from the specialty coffee division team. But not only with them also with the commercial team, logistics, anyway… I can say that I always have had the necessary support.

Daniela: When I first joined Olam, I thought the Specialty team was people I had contact with at the office. It did not take long to realize not only the entire coffee operation in Brazil but the other traders and Q graders around the globe were part of one single Team, which I happened to be part of. Olamites provide support to one another. Unfortunately, not too many female leaders, but it will come with time. 

And how does your role at OLAM play a part in the program? Is this a larger initiative that many folks at OLAM are a part of? 

Manoela: I manage the project sales and costs, the marketing material, and the actions we perform. I am responsible for the actions along with Ana Carolina Abreu, Ana Carolina Puga, and Taciana Bolzan.

Have there been important moments in your career that energize you to keep working in coffee? 

Manoela: Yes. It is not a specific event, but it is seeing the results of our sustainability actions. Sometimes in an informal conversation with the producer, we can see that we are going the right way.

Daniela: Every breath is an important moment, especially at work. The moments I had a share on contributing to the wellbeing of others were the ones I energized myself with. Working to have the Café Delas project, and Olam Club widely presented in Asia and the contact with the producers made a good change in my humanity.

What do you think about the coffee industry What are the challenges and successes of all the women who work in coffee? 

Manoela: I believe that we are all connected by the love for coffee. The final customer at the cafeteria enjoying his coffee with a friend. The producer, day by day taking care of his/her production to produce quality coffees. I believe that consumers increasingly want to know this: where their coffee comes from. Valuing this work is very important.

The challenges for women are many. There is still a lack of access to opportunities and important decision making, for example. But it's amazing how many women are coming together and finding their value. This job is not easy, but it is rewarding. Young people are the main agents and what motivates us for one day, we change the current scenario and really have the same opportunities throughout the coffee sector.

Daniela: There are more than two billion cups of coffee consumed worldwide every day. The largest consumption is in rich countries, while ninety percent of production in developing countries. The demand for certified and produced coffees by women in rich countries helps to guide the pace of development and success of women in the production and education of the next generations in the field. Education is probably the challenge and the key for success.

Do you find a lot of roasters and green buyers are excited about this gender equity initiative? Do people ask you about the program, or how the results impact the women in the communities where you work? 

Manoela: Yes! I am very happy for that, the customers are more and more interested in this theme. And they want to understand better, they ask about the actions, about the impact of the actions and they promote the project and the women’s work to their final client.

Thank you, Manoela and Daniela!

To read this interview in Portuguese, please visit the following blog post.