Our Story
Our founder, Vanessa, spent two years leading humanitarian programs in East Africa and Southeast Asia, including Uganda, where she first met the people and NGO we now partner with. During that time, she also walked into the most marginalized, underprivileged, and unreached areas. There, she learned how to strategically, innovatively, and sustainably help those in need.
This isn't just business for her; these are communities she’s served and relationships she’s built over the years.
Teams We Work With
We Work Together to Deliver the Best for You and for Them.
Aitenga
Artisans sewed the packaging
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We source our handmade fabric packaging directly from women trained through Aitenga’s tailoring program.
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Aitenga provides free tailoring training and hires these women from vulnerable backgrounds
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They also provide free financial literacy, business management, and entrepreneurship classes to ensure these incomes truly help the women overcome economic barriers.
Because of Love
Assembled and tagged
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We assemble the fabric wrap, the coffee bags, and the maker-identification box into our product under the brand name Because of Love.
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We build a relationship with these women through home visitations, constant communications, and systematic support.
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Through our product and management, our customers can have a direct relationship with the women they are supporting.
Red Bay Coffee
Coffee is sourced
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We source our coffee from Red Bay Coffee, which has a strong emphasis on fair-trade sourcing.
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They work hand in hand with their coffee farmers to elevate their growing standards and compensate them accordingly for doing so.
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By working directly with as many farms as possible eliminates the "middle man mark-up" so that we can offer you the best coffee in the world at fair prices.
Driven by Love
After countless people have asked me why I keep working in Africa despite the difficult challenges and uncomfortable situations, I realized the only answer to that is simply
"because of love."
Vanessa Yu, Founder of Because of Love