About Us

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. Weโ€™re all in this together! ๐ŸŒˆ๐Ÿ’•๐Ÿ•Š

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

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