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Stumptown Coffee Roasters Takes Wax and Gold to Ethiopia
Wax and Gold is a 20-minute short film released by Stumptown Coffee Roasters in August 2019 in the United States, directed by Britton Caillouette and produced by Farm League, exploring Ethiopia's intertwined coffee and music cultures as a narrative vehicle for the brand's Ethiopia Mordecofe whole-bean coffee.
The campaign launched in the United States on August 7, 2019, with daytime and evening premiere screenings scheduled for August 24, 2019, in Los Angeles, according to thecurbkaimuki.com. The film's subject is Ethiopia itself — its landscapes, its producers, and its jazz tradition — making the origin story of the coffee the creative center rather than the product alone. Stumptown paired the film with a limited-edition package design for the Ethiopia Mordecofe whole-bean coffee and a limited-run cold brew offering released in parallel, as documented by thecurbkaimuki.com. The dual product release gave the campaign a concrete commercial anchor while the film operated as a longer-form cultural argument for the brand's sourcing philosophy. Mallory Pilcher, Head of Brand at Stumptown Coffee Roasters, stated, as quoted by Andymorris Co, that the production team was drawn to showcasing the diverse landscape of Ethiopia, from the Danakil Reserve to the 12th-century rock churches of Lalibela to the intersection of commerce in Harar. The film features Ethiopian coffee producer Haile Gebre and carries a soundtrack composed by Ethiopian jazz artist Mulatu Astatke, according to clapboard.com. Proceeds from coffee sales were intended to benefit Mulatu Astatke's Jazz in Africa Foundation, per clapboard.com, embedding a philanthropic dimension directly into the product's commercial lifecycle. The Wax and Gold campaign sits within the Food and Drink category and the Drinks (Non Alcoholic) industry, using the Film and Narrative format — a deliberate choice that places Stumptown in creative territory rarely occupied by specialty coffee brands operating across the US market.
Stumptown Coffee Roasters positions itself within the premium specialty coffee segment of the United States market, where storytelling about origin, producer relationships, and craft is a primary differentiator. The specialty coffee market is a rapidly expanding category globally: according to GlobeNewswire, the global specialty coffee market was valued at approximately 35.87 billion US dollars in 2018 and was projected to reach 83.56 billion US dollars by 2025, representing a revenue compound annual growth rate of 13.3 percent. Volume was forecast to grow from 973,999 metric tons in 2018 to 1.64 million metric tons by 2025, equivalent to an 8.3 percent volume compound annual growth rate, per GlobeNewswire. These projections underscore the scale of opportunity that Stumptown was competing for across the US market in 2019.
Stumptown's competitive set in the United States includes Starbucks Reserve, Blue Bottle Coffee, and Peet's Coffee, all of which have invested in origin narratives and premium product lines of their own. Starbucks Reserve operates a network of high-end retail experiences built around single-origin storytelling, while Blue Bottle Coffee has pursued a similarly minimalist, provenance-led brand identity. Against this backdrop, Stumptown's decision to produce a 20-minute narrative short film rather than a conventional advertisement represents a deliberate escalation of the form — choosing depth over reach as the strategic bet. The pairing of the film with a specific product, the Ethiopia Mordecofe coffee, and a limited-run cold brew, as documented by thecurbkaimuki.com, gives the campaign a conversion pathway that pure brand films often lack. By tying proceeds from coffee sales to Mulatu Astatke's Jazz in Africa Foundation, per clapboard.com, Stumptown also addressed the growing consumer expectation in the United States that premium brands demonstrate meaningful relationships with their source communities rather than simply narrating them.
Director Britton Caillouette led the production of Wax and Gold, with Farm League serving as the production company, according to adsoftheworld.com and thecurbkaimuki.com. The film was shot on location in Ethiopia, moving across geographically and culturally distinct regions of the country. Mallory Pilcher, Head of Brand at Stumptown Coffee Roasters, described the location selection as intentional and layered, noting — as quoted by andymorris.co — that each of the chosen locations has a history pointing to the brand's own humanity and shared traditions. The Danakil Reserve, the 12th-century rock churches of Lalibela, and the commercial hub of Harar each appear in the film, constructing Ethiopia not as a single backdrop but as a landscape of plural histories, per andymorris.co.
The film runs to 20 minutes, a format that demands the audience elect to engage rather than simply encounter an advertisement in passing. Production credits beyond the director and production company for Wax and Gold are not fully documented in publicly available records, though the involvement of Ethiopian coffee producer Haile Gebre and jazz artist Mulatu Astatke as on-screen subjects gives the film a specificity and authenticity that distinguishes it from branded content built around anonymous source communities, as noted by clapboard.com and baristamagazine.com. The Mulatu Astatke soundtrack is not incidental: Astatke is widely recognised as the founder of Ethio-jazz, and his presence lends the film a musical credibility that reinforces the cultural seriousness of Stumptown's intent. The premiere format — dual screenings in Los Angeles on August 24, 2019, according to thecurbkaimuki.com — treated the film as an event rather than simply a content asset, extending its reach through the experiential register that specialty coffee's core audience in the United States responds to with particular intensity.
No independently verified performance data quantifying the commercial or audience impact of Wax and Gold is publicly available in the sources consulted for this analysis. The campaign's measurable outcomes — including streaming figures, coffee sales volumes tied to the Ethiopia Mordecofe release, or the proceeds directed to Mulatu Astatke's Jazz in Africa Foundation — have not been disclosed by Stumptown Coffee Roasters in any publicly accessible report, per clapboard.com.
Structurally, however, the campaign demonstrates several qualities associated with durable brand effectiveness in the United States specialty market. The 20-minute film format self-selects a highly engaged audience, reducing wasted exposure while deepening brand affinity among consumers already disposed toward Stumptown's positioning. The limited-edition product pairing and the cold brew release, as documented by thecurbkaimuki.com, create a closed loop between cultural engagement and commercial action that many pure brand films fail to close. The philanthropic mechanism — directing proceeds toward Mulatu Astatke's Jazz in Africa Foundation — adds a layer of accountability that transforms the origin narrative from aesthetic gesture into a verifiable commitment, which is a meaningful distinction in a category where claims about producer relationships are increasingly scrutinised by US consumers and trade press alike, as reflected in coverage by baristamagazine.com. Wax and Gold earns a Clapboard Score of 69 out of 100, reflecting strong creative ambition, a well-structured product integration, and a culturally grounded execution, balanced against the absence of public performance data and the limited measurable competitive differentiation achievable by a single short film in a market where origin storytelling has become a category norm rather than a point of genuine departure.
Wax and Gold is a 20-minute short film released by Stumptown Coffee Roasters in August 2019 in the United States. Directed by Britton Caillouette and produced by Farm League, it explores Ethiopia's coffee and music cultures and was paired with a limited-edition Ethiopia Mordecofe coffee release, according to thecurbkaimuki.com.
Britton Caillouette directed Wax and Gold for Stumptown Coffee Roasters. Farm League served as the production company. The film was shot on location across multiple regions of Ethiopia, including the Danakil Reserve and Lalibela, and premiered in Los Angeles on August 24, 2019, per thecurbkaimuki.com and adsoftheworld.com.
Stumptown Coffee Roasters released the Ethiopia Mordecofe whole-bean coffee with a limited-edition package design alongside Wax and Gold. A limited-run cold brew version was also released simultaneously. Proceeds from coffee sales were intended to benefit Mulatu Astatke's Jazz in Africa Foundation, according to clapboard.com and thecurbkaimuki.com.
Mulatu Astatke is an Ethiopian jazz musician widely recognised as the founder of Ethio-jazz. He composed the soundtrack for Wax and Gold and appears as a subject in the film. Proceeds from the associated Stumptown coffee sales were designated to support his Jazz in Africa Foundation, per clapboard.com and baristamagazine.com.
Wax and Gold received a Clapboard Score of 69 out of 100. The score reflects the campaign's strong creative ambition and culturally grounded execution, balanced against the absence of publicly available performance data and the increasingly competitive landscape of origin storytelling among specialty coffee brands in the United States market.
Stumptown Coffee Roasters premiered Wax and Gold at daytime and evening screenings in Los Angeles on August 24, 2019, treating the film as a live event rather than a purely digital content release. The campaign used the Film and Narrative format, running to 20 minutes, according to thecurbkaimuki.com and adsoftheworld.com.
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