About Us | Umeshiso

WELCOME TO UMESHISO

My name is Umeko and I didn’t know I was going have a gay spoon business. I just worked in specialty coffee for 14 years and always felt super out of place.

I’m nonbinary, mixed race, disabled, a proud gaysian, and I love it. It’s just that other people don’t always love it. And when those people dominate my professional field – it’s a whole deal.

That’s why I started taking my rainbow spoons to coffee cuppings (tastings). No matter what anyone said to me, my rainbow spoon reminded me that I belong. It turns out many people related and wanted their own rainbow spoons, so I created Umeshiso!

To make this space welcoming for everyone, everything is priced on a sliding scale. Just pay the amount that is comfortable for you. We’re all in this together!

Sincerely,

Umeko Motoyoshi (They/Them)

Founder, Umeshiso Coffee Supply

Umeshiso Coffee Supply believes in community and mutual aid.

We operate our own nonprofit initiative, Get Psyched, providing free psychiatric care for coffee workers. This initiative is a partnership with the coffee nonprofit GoFundBean.

We also donate on a monthly basis to these amazing organizations, and we hope you will check them out:

MECA PaliRoots Meals Program: provides fresh, nutritious meals to Palestinian children in Gaza.
The Loveland Foundation: provides free therapy for Black women and girls.
G.I.F.T. (Generating Income For Tomorrow): provides financial support for Black-owned businesses in Kansas City, where Umeshiso is based.
Trans & Caffeinated : fosters education, encourages discussion, and nurtures new generations of transgender folx.
SWAN Vancouver: culturally-specialized supports & advocacy for im/migrant women engaged in indoor sex work.
Kansas City Indian Center: provides social services for Indigenous people in Kansas City. Learn more at kcindiancenter.org
Disability Visibility Project: an online community dedicated to creating, sharing and amplifying disability media and culture.
GlitterCat Barista: hosts free, accessible coffee competitions along with a host of initiatives and programs to support marginalized people in the coffee industry.
GoFundBean: an organization to support, uplift, and defend the hourly coffee professional in every way possible. Their initiatives include the Stay Grounded Initiative, which provides free talk therapy for coffee workers.
Nalgona Positivity Pride: an in-community eating disorders and body-positive organization dedicated in creating visibility and resources for Black, Indigenous, communities of color.

To learn more about Umeshiso, check out our Instagram