Women in Coffee: The Farmers, Roasters and Pioneers

Every cup you drink has probably passed through a woman’s hands. According to the International Coffee Organization (ICO), women provide up to 70% of on-farm labor in coffee production, depending on the region, yet only around a quarter of coffee farms are operated by women. Women in coffee have also shaped how the world brews and buys it, from the paper filter to the very words “specialty coffee.”

For International Women’s Day on March 8, here is a look at the farmers, roasters and pioneers whose work is too often invisible, and at what coffee drinkers can actually do about it.

Key takeaways

• The ICO reports women provide up to 70% of on-farm coffee labor in some regions, but operate only about 25% of farms.
• Women face limited access to quality land, credit and training, which the ICO links to a gender productivity gap.
• Melitta Bentz patented the paper coffee filter in 1908, and Erna Knutsen coined “specialty coffee” in 1974.
• The International Women’s Coffee Alliance (IWCA), founded in 2003, now has chapters in over 20 countries.

In this article

1. Women in coffee on the farm
2. Pioneers who changed coffee
3. A short timeline
4. Organizations working for change
5. How coffee drinkers can help
6. FAQ

Women in coffee on the farm

Coffee is a labor-heavy crop. Seedlings must be planted and shaded, cherries picked by hand when ripe, and the harvest sorted, processed and dried. Women do a large share of this work. In its 2018 report Gender equality in the coffee sector, released for International Coffee Day, the ICO estimated that women supply up to 70% of on-farm labor, depending on the region, while around 25% of farms are operated by female growers.

The ICO also pointed to a gender productivity gap: farms run by women tend to produce less, not because women farm worse, but because they face limited access to quality land, credit, inputs, training and market information. When the person doing the work doesn’t own the land or sign the sales contract, she often has little say over income.

Where the gap shows up

To see how much of that labor goes into a single harvest, read our guide to the coffee harvest.

Pioneers who changed coffee

Melitta Bentz and the paper filter (1908)

Tired of gritty, bitter coffee, Melitta Bentz of Dresden punched holes in a brass pot and lined it with blotting paper from her son’s schoolbooks. In 1908 she received a patent for her filter and founded the company that still carries her name. Every pour-over and drip machine owes something to her idea. We tell her full story in Melitta Bentz and the coffee filter.

Alice Foote MacDougall, New York’s coffee entrepreneur

After her husband, a coffee broker, died, Alice Foote MacDougall entered the trade in 1907 to support her children, selling coffee in a business dominated by men. In 1919 she opened The Little Coffee Shop in Grand Central Terminal, serving waffles to draw customers, and went on to open several European-inspired cafés in New York. She published Coffee and Waffles in 1926 and her autobiography in 1928. The Great Depression hit her restaurants hard, and the last closed in the 1930s.

Erna Knutsen, who named specialty coffee (1974)

Born in Norway in 1921, Erna Knutsen moved to the United States as a child and worked for years as a secretary before joining the San Francisco brokerage B.C. Ireland in 1968. Excluded from the cupping lab at first, she eventually won access, became a respected cupper and began selling small lots of exceptional coffee. In a 1974 interview with the Tea & Coffee Trade Journal she used the phrase “specialty coffee” to describe beans with distinctive flavors from special microclimates. She later took over the company, renamed it Knutsen Coffee Ltd., and died in 2018. Learn what the term means today in what is specialty coffee?

Keepers of tradition

In Ethiopia, the coffee ceremony, with its roasting, grinding and three rounds of serving, is traditionally prepared by women and is a central act of hospitality. Our article on the Ethiopian coffee ceremony describes each step.

Women in coffee: a short timeline

Organizations working for change

The International Women’s Coffee Alliance (IWCA) grew out of a 2003 trip to Nicaragua by a group of women in the coffee trade, where they met women farmers from a local cooperative who simply wanted to do business with dignity. Six co-founders, including Melissa Pugash and Margaret Swallow, turned that meeting into a nonprofit. Its mission is to empower women in the international coffee community to achieve meaningful and sustainable lives, and it now counts chapters in more than 20 countries.

Many cooperatives and certification programs also run women’s committees, training and credit schemes. Some roasters sell coffees produced by women-led groups, often labeled with the producer’s name or co-op.

How coffee drinkers can support women in coffee

1. Ask where your coffee comes from. Traceable coffees name a farm, co-op or region; that transparency is where fairer deals start.
2. Read the label. Our guide to how to read a coffee label shows what origin details mean.
3. Pay for quality. Better prices for specialty coffee leave more room for producers, including women, to earn more.
4. Learn about certifications. Read our explainer on fair trade coffee to understand what it does and does not guarantee.
5. Support women in your local scene. Baristas, roasters and café owners build the culture you enjoy.

Traceable single origins

Knowing who grew your coffee is the first step. Our single origins name their growing communities: Honduras Marcala comes from the 1,500 grower-members of Cafe Organics Marcala, Peru from the Norandino cooperative in Piura and Amazonas, and Ethiopia Natural from smallholder farmers in the Sidama zone. Explore them all in Single Origins.

Women in coffee FAQ

What percentage of coffee farmers are women?

The ICO estimates that around 25% of coffee farms are operated by women, while women provide up to 70% of on-farm labor, depending on the region.

Who invented the coffee filter?

Melitta Bentz, a German housewife from Dresden, patented the paper coffee filter in 1908.

Who coined the term specialty coffee?

Erna Knutsen, a San Francisco coffee importer, used the term in a 1974 Tea & Coffee Trade Journal interview.

What is the International Women’s Coffee Alliance?

A nonprofit network founded in 2003 that supports women across the coffee chain, with chapters in more than 20 countries.

Sources

1. International Coffee Organization. Gender equality in the coffee sector, 2018. ico.org; reported by Eagle Online, 2018.
2. Pugash M, Swallow M. International Women’s Coffee Alliance Celebrates 15-Year Anniversary. National Coffee Association blog, 2018. nationalcoffee.blog.
3. Specialty Coffee Association. Celebrating Erna Knutsen’s Specialty Coffee. 25 Magazine, Issue 6. sca.coffee.
4. Daily Coffee News. Remembering Specialty Coffee Legend Erna Knutsen, 2018. dailycoffeenews.com.
5. Trade Coffee. Know Your Women in Coffee History. drinktrade.com.

Facts checked in October 2026.

Keep reading: Melitta Bentz and the coffee filter · The Ethiopian coffee ceremony · Single Origins