Starbucks #SirensBlend is a cup of sisterhood

When you mix a packet of empowerment with your stir stick and a fine medium roast, you acquire Starbucks’s new launch inspired by trailblazing women in the coffee industry called Siren’s Blend

The cup of joe to a regular coffee devotee is smooth, with no harsh aftertaste that would need a cleaning of your palette. You can really get the sense of its perfume no matter what size you choose; It’s oaky flavors no doubt is a triple threat. The best part of Siren’s Blend is that it captures a homemade warmth, as if each tastemaker was brewing a batch on an open fire surrounded by your closest mates. 

But this isn’t the only time Starbucks is recognizing women who are making change in their community. In 2018, The Starbucks Foundation set a goal to take action by empowering 250,000 women and girls by 2025 in communities where coffee, tea, and cocoa is grown. Since then, the foundation courageously has given nearly $4 million dollars to 11 programs focused on women’s leadership opportunities, economic development, access to water, sanitation, health, education and more.

For many women, coffee farming is an opportunity to manage their own income and contribute to decision making amidst their family. Each time Starbucks brings attention to these front-line workers, the public is able to educate themselves further on who is behind the bean, the journey and even places in the world that cannot see over the archaic gender roles. In a lot of cases for women such as in Nicaragua, the dream of obtaining their own land as equal to men is harder to achieve due to not having assets such as property to use if they need a loan to support their farms. This also puts a strain on the essential of having credit to further their business. For these women that are not able to find ways to finance their own trade, a good amount of profits they make go to the men they work for who owns the property, even though their time stamp is much longer. On top of this, Indigenous women and children who are seen in many eyes to have less competence face being placed in positions of sexual violence, for an attempt at change for a better life. 

For National Coffee Day and beyond, let’s uplift the world by sharing the crucial roles women play in agriculture one sip at a time, which makes the launch of Siren’s Blend so special.  

To read more about Siren’s Blend, Starbucks Stories and their efforts to support women and girls visit: https://stories.starbucks.ca/en/stories/2019/new-starbucks-sirens-blend-supports-women-in-coffee-growing-communities/

Jarrod Daley
jarroddaley@postcity.com