Making a global coffee supply chain fully inclusive – from growing to trading, roasting, and selling

Solution
Inclusive Coffee Value Chain
Organization
The Lucy Foundation
Country of Implementation
New Zealand
Region
Australia & Oceania
Start Year
2017
First published
03.12.2024

The Lucy Foundation in New Zealand runs an inclusive coffee supply chain with workers with disabilities in Mexico and New Zealand. It employs, trains, and empowers individuals with disabilities.

A group of warehouse workers, some with disabilities, stand together wearing reflective vests. Their expressions are confident and united, representing inclusion in the workplace and highlighting how individuals of all abilities can contribute meaningfully in professional settings, promoting diversity and teamwork.
The Lucy Foundation has set up an inclusive coffee supply chain from Mexico to New Zealand.

Solution details

People

Robbie FRANCIS WATENE Website
“The best coffee of all is coffee for all!” Dr. Robbie Francis Watene, Co-Founder, The Lucy Foundation

The Lucy Foundation (TLF) is a disability-led NGO from New Zealand. In 2017, TLF established a disability inclusive supply chain of coffee, beginning with beans from Pluma Hidalgo, Mexico, which are grown and processed by disabled people and their families. The beans are shipped to New Zealand by a disability-led organization where they are roasted, packaged, and sold by an all-disabled team. The project directly trains and employs disabled people both in Mexico and New Zealand.

Problems Targeted

Product supply chains are rarely disability inclusive, creating little awareness and blocking learnings and collaboration across businesses and borders.

Solution, Innovation and Impact

The Lucy Foundation (TLF), a disability-led NGO based in New Zealand, has created a product supply chain that is entirely inclusive of disabled people. The project begins with coffee farms in Pluma Hidalgo, Oaxaca, Mexico, and ends with the beans being sold by an all-disabled team in New Zealand. In Pluma Hidalgo the coffee beans are grown, picked, and processed by disabled people and their families. The project also focuses on environmental sustainability, helping families implement organic practices to restore soil and plant health, thereby increasing yield and coffee quality. The coffee beans are then exported to New Zealand by a disability-led import/export company. Once in New Zealand the beans are roasted, packaged, and sold by a disability-diverse team. The Seed Training Programme supports young people with intellectual disabilities to participate in paid work experience, where they learn about the coffee industry, particularly dispatch and sales. Trainees also engage with local businesses and organizations to discuss disability rights, diversity, inclusion, accessibility, and of course coffee, thereby building networks and relationships with potential future employers.

Funding, Outlook and Transferability

The Lucy Foundation’s funding comes from coffee sales, grants, and donations. TLF aims to scale operations and become more financially sustainable through increased coffee sales. (Zero Project Awardee 2025)

Media

Pictures

A group of warehouse workers, some with disabilities, stand together wearing reflective vests. Their expressions are confident and united, representing inclusion in the workplace and highlighting how individuals of all abilities can contribute meaningfully in professional settings, promoting diversity and teamwork. The Lucy Foundation has set up an inclusive coffee supply chain from Mexico to New Zealand.
A group of warehouse workers, some with disabilities, stand together wearing reflective vests. Their expressions are confident and united, representing inclusion in the workplace and highlighting how individuals of all abilities can contribute meaningfully in professional settings, promoting diversity and teamwork. The Lucy Foundation has set up an inclusive coffee supply chain from Mexico to New Zealand.

Related information

Connections
2

Solutions with the same:

Country of Implementation

New Zealand

Region of Implementation

Australia & Oceania