The Upwork community is made up of millions of entrepreneurs and talent, fueled by inspiration, late nights, and most importantly, coffee. So when International Coffee Day came around, we wanted to celebrate in a way that only Upwork could.

We decided to produce our very own coffee line, featuring beautiful illustrations from talented freelancers on our platform — along with a clear way to hire them right on the package. The result was a limited-edition product that represents Upwork freelancers everywhere. It gave our talent something to celebrate, and our clients something to savor — ultimately driving new business for freelancers and generating over $100,000 in new business in the first week.

We hired talent from our own platform to create illustrations inspired by coffee. Each bag features one of five unique illustrations, with a QR code on the back driving to each illustrator’s Upwork profile, where clients can hire them. Our favorite touch? A simple note on the underside of the bag: “This package is a collaboration of talented people doing what they love.”

After launching on social for International Coffee Day, we shipped bags to our most prestigious clients to help hero our top talent to their dream clients. We also produced Beautiful Coffee, a film about our remarkable roasting partners that was 100% produced by talent on our platform.

The illustrations were digitally printed with a matte laminate finish for a rich, nonreflective canvas for a buttery, velvety texture that looks and feels high-end to the touch—a nod to the high caliber of the talent and work that’s possible on Upwork. The accompanying Artist Series booklet builds on a sense of sophistication, saddle-stitched with an 80 lb. Nantucket Silk cover and radius corners.

Our choice of vendors was equally intentional: The bags were produced by PURE Production, a female-led company with a vision for high-end packaging. Similarly, the roaster we chose is living our values as a certified B Corporation that practices Direct Trade with their farming partners. The total production run consisted of 5,000 coffee bags — 1,000 of each illustration. Distribution is happening in phases and will continue to be released to enterprise clients and winning freelancers in small batches.

Our community buzzed about it, with a 400% increase in social engagement over similar campaigns. So did our clients, with over $100,000 in new business leads in just a few short weeks. And most important, our talent saw immediate returns, gaining more exposure online and landing new projects as a direct result.