CoffeePLUG Is The New Black-Owned Platform Connecting Coffee Farmers With Buyers
Black-owned, Philadelphia-based Win Win Coffee has launched a transformative technology platform to connect coffee farmers directly with buyers, creating a more ethical and streamlined process.
Co-founded by Nikisha Bailey and Matthew Nam, Win Win Coffee has the vision to lead a coffee industry renaissance where every sip is a journey through the diverse narratives of the African diaspora.
After Win Win Coffee was forced to close in 2020 due to pandemic restrictions, Bailey and Nam decided to source and produce their own brand of coffee.
This gave them a look into the process of producing coffee and the barriers people of color face, leading them to launch a tech platform, CoffeePLUG.
The CoffeePLUG Platform
As Technical.ly reports, the CoffeePLUG platform seeks to streamline the coffee supply chain, offering greater transparency and fostering equitable trade practices.
CoffeePLUG empowers coffee farmers, particularly those in underrepresented communities, by providing them with direct access to the market.
“The birthplace of coffee comes from Black and brown countries, but they don’t see the majority of the revenue,” Bailey told Technical.ly.
“And so our mission was always to empower that supply chain, that specific supply chain, by allowing them to actively participate as a farmer.”
The B2B platform cuts out middlemen in the supply chain so farmers can earn more for their crops and buyers can get coffee for a better deal.
The platform provides links to partner organizations in the coffee manufacturing process, allowing users to access all the steps to buying and selling coffee.
It also allows users to track where their product is throughout the process.
A Win for Buyers
For buyers, this platform means access to high-quality, ethically sourced coffee directly from the growers. It promises a more ethical, traceable, and personal buying experience.
“Every time the coffee moves, or every time it gets to a middleman or intermediary, the farmer’s going to earn less, and the buyer’s gonna have to pay more,” Bailey said.
“But because we’re able to cut out those middlemen, and allow both sides to have a clear connection, we’re actually able to give the farmer more and have the buyer pay less.”
Win Win Coffee is in the final stages of building the platform and plans to run a pilot in mid-February, followed by a pre-seed round launch this quarter.
