Social Impact Tech: Victoria Kihnke and Amy Kihnke of Pure Origin Coffee On How Their Technology Will Make An Important Positive Impact
An Interview With Jilea Hemmings
To successfully create technology that makes a positive social impact, you first need to identify a cause you are going to support. Second, you need to think about how you can communicate this cause via technology. Third, you need to decide your target audience and then tailor your messaging towards that audience. Lastly, you need to spread the word to anyone who will listen!
In recent years, Big Tech has gotten a bad rep. But of course many tech companies are doing important work making monumental positive changes to society, health, and the environment. To highlight these, we started a new interview series about “Technology Making An Important Positive Social Impact”. We are interviewing leaders of tech companies who are creating or have created a tech product that is helping to make a positive change in people’s lives or the environment. As a part of this series, I had the pleasure of interviewing Victoria Kihnke and Amy Kihnke.
Victoria and Amy are sisters who have several years of experience in coffee sales and marketing as well as a heart for helping others. When developing Pure Origin Coffee, they knew they wanted to feature a product that “makes an impact” while giving back to farmers and their projects worldwide. In doing so, they incorporated cutting-edge augmented reality (AR) technology on their packaging — now you can discover coffee that comes to life!
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series. Before we dive in, our readers would love to learn a bit more about you. Can you tell us a bit about your childhood backstory and how you grew up?
Thanks for having us! We both grew up in West Michigan where we got our start in the coffee industry as baristas, working for our family operated company, Magnum Coffee Roastery (a prominent private label roasting and packaging facility).
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
I think we would have to say the most interesting story is still unfolding with the recent launch of Pure Origin! As this is our passion project, we are excited to share various stories from our coffee farmers, including their success in testing women for cervical cancer, assisting with clean water initiatives, supporting production in post-conflict zones — just to name a few of their amazing achievements!
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
Again, we have to attribute this program and its success to our partners. Without them, there would be no beans to fill our bags, nor to fill your mugs! When we began this journey (during the COVID pandemic) it was a struggle to communicate abroad since there were Wi-Fi and lockdown restrictions in many of the developing countries we were working with, however, our partners continued to jump through hoops to make this happen. Some farmers even snuck out past curfew to take photos and record video content at their coffee mills; all to develop this program and deliver it to you.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
A quote we always say is “nothing good comes easy”. You have to be willing to put in the time to grow something which is what our partners have done with their sustainability projects and what we are working on now with this brand launch.
You are a successful business leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?
Oh, man. There are so many traits that make a great leader, but let’s go with passion, grit and authenticity. Using all three, we have been able to connect to different people around the world.
Ok super. Let’s now shift to the main part of our discussion about the tech tools that you are helping to create that can make a positive social impact on our society. To begin, what problems are you aiming to solve?
We’re excited to introduce customers to the farmers who have hand-picked their coffee! By featuring augmented reality (AR) technology on Pure Origin coffee bags, the user scans a QR code and watches the grower tell a story about the origin of his/her beans. With this, we hope to give a voice to the grower’s sustainability efforts and connect the producer with the end consumer.
How do you think your technology can address this?
By allowing consumers to “meet their farmer” via augmented reality (AR) technology we are offering transparency and empowering the grower as people are about to learn about them.
Can you tell us the backstory about what inspired you to originally feel passionate about this cause?
After hearing about the various sustainable projects our partners were working on — it was a no-brainer! We knew we had to share with the world and do so in an exciting new way.
How do you think this might change the world?
Our hope is that people can gain understanding about where their coffee comes from and the hard work that goes into producing it. It’s easy to take something for granted when you don’t know where it comes from and all that went into creating it.
Keeping “Black Mirror” and the “Law of Unintended Consequences” in mind, can you see any potential drawbacks about this technology that people should think more deeply about?
I think it’s important to keep in mind that although we are aiming to be as transparent as possible, there is always more to the story. We will continue to seek out ways to share as much as we can about our products and the wonderful people who made it all happen.
Here is the main question for our discussion. Based on your experience and success, can you please share “Five things you need to know to successfully create technology that can make a positive social impact”? (Please share a story or an example, for each.)
To successfully create technology that makes a positive social impact, you first need to identify a cause you are going to support. Second, you need to think about how you can communicate this cause via technology. Third, you need to decide your target audience and then tailor your messaging towards that audience. Lastly, you need to spread the word to anyone who will listen!
If you could tell other young people one thing about why they should consider making a positive impact on our environment or society, like you, what would you tell them?
Sustainability matters. When we take care of each other and our planet, we have the opportunity to connect deeper!
Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would like to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. :-)
Great question. Let’s go with Ellen DeGeneres. We’ve always admired her work in giving a voice to the “small guys”. This is exactly what we aim to do with Pure Origin.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
We would love anyone who is passionate about sustainability and wants to learn more about supporting coffee farmers, to follow us on Instagram or Facebook. You can find us at @pureorigincoffee as well as www.pureorigincoffee.org.
Thank you so much for joining us. This was very inspirational, and we wish you continued success in your important work.
Thank you. We really appreciate the opportunity!
About the Interviewer: Jilea Hemmings is a staunch believer in the power of entrepreneurship. A successful career revamping Fortune 500 companies was not enough for her entrepreneurial spirit, so Jilea began focusing her passion in startups. She has successfully built 6 startups to date. Her passion for entrepreneurship continues to flourish with the development of Stretchy Hair Care, focusing on relieving the pain associated with detangling and styling natural black hair. For far too long, people with tender heads have suffered in pain. Until now.
