Greek Coffee Professionals Meet Colombian Producers at Athens Coffee Days

At Athens Coffee Days, organized by Nestlé Professional, IWCA Greece created programming that connected Greek coffee professionals directly to Colombian women producers' stories. Savina Giachgia, an IWCA Greece member, interviewed Lina María Granados Uribe from IWCA Colombia about the role of women producers in coffee-producing countries.

The interview format created structured space for substantive conversation—Ms. Giachgia asked specific questions about production challenges and support systems, while Ms. Granados Uribe provided answers grounded in direct experience with IWCA Colombia's work. This wasn't casual networking. It was intentional knowledge exchange.

The session concluded with cupping four coffees from IWCA women's farms across Colombia. Participants weren't just evaluating flavor profiles. They were connecting sensory experience to human story—tasting coffee while understanding the women who grew it.

The event demonstrated how IWCA's international network functions operationally. Chapters create opportunities for members to connect across countries, learning from different contexts and understanding challenges from both producing and consuming country perspectives.

For IWCA Greece's 37 members, events like this provide platform to demonstrate their work and build industry relationships. The chapter operates in consuming country context where members are coffee professionals—roasters, baristas, café owners, trainers, consultants—focused on career advancement and workplace equity rather than agricultural development.

That consuming country focus makes origin connections particularly valuable. Understanding what women producers experience influences how Greek professionals make sourcing decisions, communicate about coffee to customers, and think about value distribution through supply chains.

The partnership with Nestlé Professional and Buondi Craft demonstrated that women's organizations need industry allies to amplify their work. When major coffee companies and craft roasters both support these initiatives, they signal that gender equity matters across all market segments.

IWCA Greece's Athens Coffee Days participation represented their strategy: embed in Greek coffee industry events, bring women producers' stories into mainstream conversations, and create connections between Greek professionals and international women in coffee. That consistent presence produces gradual culture shift, demonstrating that women's participation matters and deserves recognition.

The interview also modeled women coffee professionals featuring other women's expertise—creating space where women's knowledge is centered rather than serving as background to male-dominated panels.

For visitors, the session provided tangible connection to Colombian women producers through conversation and coffee tasting. That connection creates awareness and potentially influences future sourcing decisions in ways that benefit women producers directly.