Coffee Milk Blood

«Coffee Milk Blood – a Story about us, by us» is a book by Vava Angwenyi with photographs by Portia Maae Hunt. When purchasing coffee from Kenya, Vava Coffee, a certified B Corp founded by Vava in 2008, is usually our partner of choice. The social enterprise is committed to contributing to better future prospects for both local communities and the coffee industry as a whole. Vava Coffee’s vision is to challenge the status quo and promote positive social and economic disruption within the coffee industry. Thanks to Vava's passion, many coffee farmers are able to earn their income in a sustainable way.

«Coffee Milk Blood» is a beautiful and thought-provoking photo book about the people in coffee production, colonial history – and present. It is a passion project that Vava and Portia had been working for for a long time.

We sell this book barely above our purchase price. Besides the cost for production and distribution of the book, what's left mostly goes directly to Vava Coffee, part of whose profits always go towards the school project Gente del Futuro.

About the book, Vava writes:

«We hardly have any stories told by the coffee producer or the person living in that country and experiencing all the emotions that go with working in the coffee industry, from the growing of the coffee, processing and selling it. This story has always been from the point of view of the buyer, the roaster, the trader – the foreigner looking in and excited about the new adventure of experiencing the place and its people. Hardly do we have stories especially from this continent that clearly  touch on the perception of this continent and the real story of doing business in these environments. This work shares the point of view of the people who live and work in these communities, people who have made sacrifices to invest in their communities and uplift these communities.»

«This is both a visual and narrative story of the perception of an empowered woman in this setting, the community I work in and the Neocolonialism notions that exist in this industry as well as the colonial structures that still exist in this sector.»

«This work delves into the definition of Empowerment from the communities we seek to “empower”, storytelling from the point of view of the producers themselves and what the narrative should be as you buy their beans or as you interact with them in their communities.»

«We look to portray the images of an African coffee producer, African women and its surroundings in a more dignified, real manner as opposed to that of a pitiful struggling environment. Ours is a place of opportunity and promise for both youth, women and the entrepreneurs who dare to dream and try. We look to trade with the western world in more beneficial and profitable relationships.»