Coffee makes us feel warm inside. So does belonging. ATGC wants to create a space where everyone sees themselves represented, and can feel like they belong. We are here to bring you good coffee, done differently.
ATGC Coffee proudly creates a more sustainable set of trade practices that benefit women and families through direct trade with small coffee growers in developing countries including Rwanda, Brazil, Indonesia and Columbia. Our mission is to improve the quality of the lives around us by direct-purchasing green beans to ensure better prices for farmers. We source only the best quality and non-GMO, defect-free green beans.
We were on the hunt for the best specialty coffee and we found it – Roasted and cupped in Sydney. Our protocols hold our coffee to the highest international standard and are designed to identify harmful defects (such as mould), but also to determine the quality in the cup ie: flavours, acidity, sweets, aftertaste and body.
Our Rwanda single-origin is women-led and owned, through a partnership with Tropic Coffee led by Divine Mutuyimana to export the highest scoring specialty Arabica coffee. In Rwanda, women drive coffee farming and production yet they battle education and resource gaps. Tropic Coffee empowers Rwandan women farmers, paying a premium price and using fair trade practices, boosting their income and providing training and support to improve the quality of their coffee, increase yields and promote economic independence.
About the Founders: Tiffani Deguara and Anja Christoffersen
A passionate advocate and entrepreneur from Melbourne, Tiffani Deguara faced a life-altering struggle with Lyme Disease in her early twenties. Undeterred, she now advocates for invisible chronic illnesses, and challenges disability norms, motivating others to pursue their dreams with her story.
Anja Christoffersen is an award-winning disability advocate and social entrepreneur, based on the Sunshine Coast. Born with a rare and complex disability requiring extensive reconstructive surgeries, intervention and ongoing management, Anja has broken barriers to model, write and speak internationally.
Tiffani and Anja met when Tiffani became a Champion Health Agency Champion, hit it off, and are now best friends. They bonded over both facing the challenges of career setbacks and being misunderstood with their invisible disabilities. After enduring prolonged struggles, sharing tales of being overlooked due to their health challenges, they reached a point of exasperation.
They teamed up, and did the ‘most logical thing’, founded their very own company so they could share their story, not be judged for it and others could do the same. With Anja’s extensive advocacy work, and Tiffani’s love for good coffee, they want to inspire and show others that taking risks and achieving your goals is absolutely possible, and disability doesn’t define you.
“If you can’t see it, you can’t be it”. They could not see disabled entrepreneurs, or use their dollar to support disability-owned and led businesses with their everyday purchases. They decided that was something they wanted to change.