• Historically, working in coffee was something of a “boys’ club”: an old-school, machismo workplace culture that excluded women.
• Pioneering women like Erna Knutsen, Trish Rothgeb, Sonja Grant, Phyllis Johnson, and more helped reshape this culture, showcasing how female leadership can positively impact specialty coffee.
• Women in emerging specialty coffee markets, including those in the Middle East, Latin America, Africa, India, Eastern Europe, and Southeast Asia, are increasingly assuming decision-making roles and driving growth.
• As emerging specialty coffee markets continue to evolve, the leadership of women will prove increasingly vital to their sustainable growth and global competitiveness.

While more established coffee markets in North America and Europe have seen significant progress in gender representation, emerging specialty coffee markets across Asia, Africa, and the Middle East are experiencing a new wave of female leadership that is reshaping specialty coffee.

These women are not only breaking traditional barriers but also bringing fresh perspectives that enhance decision-making and drive innovation.

Their influence in emerging markets extends far beyond individual success stories. Research consistently demonstrates that companies and organisations with greater female representation in leadership roles achieve better financial performance, make more balanced decisions, and foster more collaborative work environments. 

In specialty coffee, where quality, sustainability, and ethical sourcing are paramount, the unique perspectives and approaches that women bring to the table are proving invaluable for market growth and development.

I spoke to Margaret Nyamumbo of Kahawa 1893, Mahsa Niyayesh of the Iranian Women’s Coffee Association, and Dr. Sunalini Menon to learn more.

You may also like our article on why specialty coffee needs to see more women in roasting.

The invaluable role of women in specialty coffee

Women’s influence in the coffee industry dates back over a century, with pioneering figures who have profoundly shaped our understanding and appreciation of coffee today.

Trailblazing women like Melitta Bentz, who invented one of the first coffee filters in the early 1900s, Erna Knutsen, who coined the term “specialty coffee” in the 1970s, and Alice Foote MacDougall, one of America’s first successful female coffee entrepreneurs, established the groundwork for future generations of women in coffee.

Building upon this legacy, visionary leaders such as Trish Rothgeb, Sonja Grant, Rachel Peterson, and Phyllis Johnson helped shape the third wave coffee movement and specialty coffee culture that defines today’s industry. 

“I met Trish Rothgeb a few years ago when I lived in San Francisco. Her prominence in coffee brought visibility to women working in the industry,” says Margaret, the founder and CEO of Kahawa 1893, a coffee brand that sources exclusively from women farmers in Africa and actively supports their economic and social empowerment. In 2023, Margaret appeared on Shark Tank US, securing US$350,000 in funding to support Kahawa 1893’s growth.

“Women like Trish helped shape that era of specialty coffee from a big boys’ club into an inclusive movement,” she adds. 

Their contributions not only spanned the development of new brewing and roasting techniques, ethical sourcing practices, and educational programmes, but also pushed to include more women in decision-making and leadership roles, supporting gender equity across the supply chain.

Organisations and brands like the International Women’s Coffee Alliance (IWCA), Café Femenino, and Grounds for Health have helped solidify this support, creating networks, funding opportunities, and advocacy platforms that enable female participation at all levels of the industry. These initiatives have been instrumental in addressing systemic barriers and creating pathways for women’s advancement in coffee.

Today, women, brands, and organisations like Lucia Solis, Lisa Lawson, Andrea Allen, Agnieszka Rojewska, Sunghee Tark, Girls Who Grind Coffee, Renata Henderson, Dafne Spadavecchia, and Girlsplaining are continuing this momentum.

Additionally, the movement has evolved to become more intersectional, actively recognising and supporting women of colour, queer women, and trans women who each contribute their own diverse and unique perspectives.

Addressing the gender gap in coffee

Research consistently demonstrates that any industry benefits significantly when women occupy leadership and decision-making roles. According to data from McKinsey, collected over a decade, companies with the greatest proportion of women on executive committees earned a 47% higher rate of return on equity than those with no women holding executive roles.

Yet the gender gap (disparity between women and men in areas like economic participation, education, politics, and health) remains open. The World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report found that, across 145 economies, the global gender gap narrowed by 0.3 percentage points in 2025. At this rate, it will take over 123 years to reach full parity globally.

Across the supply chain, gender inequity is most pronounced in coffee production. According to a 2018 report from the International Coffee Organisation (ICO), only 20 to 30% of coffee farms worldwide are operated by women. Despite this, approximately 70% of physical labour on these farms is carried out by women and girls.

In many cases, women are significantly less likely to have access to land, decision-making authority, financial resources, and knowledge of coffee production than men. The social and economic barriers to these resources often hold women back, removing equal access and widening the gender gap.

As a result of these inequities, average coffee yields on women-operated farms can be as much as 25% lower than those owned and operated by men, according to TechnoServe.

Research from the Rainforest Alliance, however, suggests that closing the gender gap in coffee production could help increase output by as many as 30 million extra cups of coffee per year.

Women’s representation has also been limited in trading and roasting. In sectors historically dominated by men, women were often excluded from executive or senior roles. Still today, women are too often forced to prove their expertise in ways that their male counterparts never have to.

Why women need to lead the way in emerging specialty coffee markets

The barriers for women working in coffee stem from historical institutional biases that they weren’t considered “capable” of having professional careers. Thankfully, these prejudices are largely behind us in specialty coffee today, but obstacles to improving female representation across the supply chain still remain.

Emerging specialty coffee markets, in particular, stand to gain immensely from increased female representation. In countries and regions such as Iran, Africa, Latin America, India, Eastern Europe, and Southeast Asia, where specialty coffee consumption is rapidly developing, there is ample opportunity to capitalise on the expertise, skills, and knowledge of women.

However, substantial efforts are still needed to improve gender equity and parity, particularly in senior decision-making positions. 

“One of the most significant obstacles is that women’s leadership skills are always questioned,” says Mahsa, the founder of the Iranian Women’s Coffee Association, the first of its kind in the country. The association supports Iranian women working in the coffee and hospitality industries, helping them face systemic challenges.

“Women face a number of barriers to entry, including gaining access to market licenses, brand registration, and creating organisations,” she adds.

Traditional cultural barriers, limited access to capital, and male-dominated industry networks continue to restrict women’s advancement into leadership roles, despite their significant contributions to the development of the coffee industry.

“When I started out, I took a buyer for a major coffee company with me to Kenya for an origin trip. As he described the taste profiles they look for in coffee, it hit me that they were all male preferences,” Margaret explains. “Women and men do have different taste preferences in drinks – think wine vs beer – and because most green coffee buyers are male, they have influenced the flavours of coffee on the market.

“With the participation of women, we are seeing women whose credentials we respect in the industry affirm different tastes that are now becoming accepted as great coffees, too,” she adds. “We can see how the flavour evolution of coffee has changed rapidly in the last decade, and it’s being driven by women’s participation.”

Who are the pioneering women in emerging specialty coffee markets?

Across emerging specialty coffee markets, remarkable women are driving transformational change. These leaders are not only building successful businesses but also creating pathways for future generations of women in the coffee industry.

Sunalini Menon, a veteran of India’s coffee industry with over 50 years of experience, exemplifies the persistence required to break barriers in male-dominated markets. 

“The Coffee Board in India had never had a woman officer,” she explains. “The first time they saw a young woman, I was about 20 years old. And, they felt, of course, I did not know about coffee.

“They feel that women lack knowledge and are unable to carry out coffee production, or that we need to be guided and have our hands held,” she adds.

Despite initial unjust scepticism, Sunalini went on to establish India’s first cupping lab and introduce quality-based payment systems that revolutionised India’s coffee industry and beyond.

“There was a lot of protesting: How can a very subjective tool be utilised for payment? But eventually it worked out,” she says. 

Sunalini also pioneered washed processing for robusta in India: “Robusta was once unheard of in the global market. People would say it’s a poor cousin of arabica or a filler coffee, but I advocated for it. 

“Today, Indian washed robustas are one of the finest in the world.”

Margaret has also achieved significant milestones in building inclusive, women-centric coffee businesses. 

“We are the first Black and woman-owned coffee company to nationally distribute coffee in grocery stores across the US,” she says, demonstrating the potential for women to build scalable coffee enterprises that challenge traditional market structures.

“Usually, there is a barrier for women to progress into other parts of the supply chain and into senior leadership positions where they can be decision makers and shape the future of the industry,” she adds.

Mahsa adds to this, sharing the impressive work that the Iranian Women’s Coffee Association is doing in championing women’s participation in coffee competitions, as well as supporting new products created by women to enter the Iranian coffee market. 

“These are some of the best pathways for women to create change themselves,” she tells me. “Now, many women, including those with disabilities, can own a café or work in coffee. They can benefit from free training, creating a community of strong women here.”

The impact of these pioneering women extends beyond individual success to systemic change in their respective markets. Through their leadership, innovation, and mentorship, they are creating more inclusive, quality-focused coffee markets that benefit all stakeholders along the supply chain.

Their work demonstrates that when women are empowered to lead in emerging specialty coffee markets, the results are transformational for entire industries and communities.

Looking ahead, mentorship and knowledge exchange are crucial to supporting women in continuing these efforts. 

“I will always encourage women to run their own educational programmes,” Sunalini says. “I always tell women, you can think outside of the box, teach others, and go out into the field.”

As emerging specialty coffee markets continue to evolve, the leadership of women will prove increasingly vital to their sustainable growth and global competitiveness. 

The experiences of trailblazers like Sunalini, Margaret, Mahsa, and many more women provide roadmaps for future generations, showing that persistence, innovation, and commitment can overcome traditional barriers. 

By continuing to support and amplify women’s voices in these markets, the global coffee industry can unlock tremendous potential for innovation, market expansion, and positive social impact.

Enjoyed this? Then read our article on women in coffee co-operatives.

Photo credits: Kahawa 1893, Sunalini Menon

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