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Corporate Social Responsibility
News
5.12.2005 ET
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CSR News from:
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News Category:
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Starbucks Celebrates World Fair Trade Day
Starbucks Demonstrates Commitment to Fair Trade CertifiedTM Coffee Through Education, Activities at All Stores in the U.S. and Canada
(CSRwire) SEATTLE - Starbucks Coffee Company is proud to celebrate World Fair
Trade Day on May 14 at its more than 6,600 stores in the United States and
Canada. Throughout the entire week of May 9-15, Starbucks Fair Trade
CertifiedTM coffee is being promoted as the Coffee Of the Week and there
will be coffee tastings of Starbucks Fair Trade Blend coffee.
"Starbucks and the fair trade movement share common goals," said Dub Hay,
Starbucks senior vice president, Coffee and Global Procurement. "Our goal
is, and has always been, to help ensure that coffee farmers receive a fair
price for the coffee they grow, enabling them to strengthen and invest in
their coffee farms for the future."
Early Supporter of Fair Trade CertifiedTM Coffee
The Starbucks commitment to Fair Trade CertifiedTM coffee has never been
stronger than it is today. For fiscal year 2005, Starbucks has committed
to purchasing 10 million pounds of Fair Trade CertifiedTM coffee, which
according to TransFair USA would account for nearly 25 percent of all Fair
Trade coffee imported into the United States in 2005.
"We applaud Starbucks for their commitment to purchasing and selling Fair
Trade Certified™ coffee," said Paul Rice, president and ceo,
TransFair USA. "Working together, organizations like TransFair, Starbucks
and the entire coffee industry can help address critical issues of
poverty, environmental degradation, and wildlife protection in the world's
coffee growing communities while offering consumers a high quality cup of
coffee."
In conjunction with TransFair USA, the nation's only independent, third
party certifier of Fair Trade products, Starbucks began purchasing and
selling Fair Trade CertifiedTM coffee in 2000, making it the first major
coffee company licensed to sell Fair Trade coffee in the U.S. Since that
time, Starbucks has worked with a number of other organizations dedicated
to the fair trade movement. Starbucks is the only specialty coffee company
licensed to sell Fair Trade Certified™ coffee in 23 different
countries.
Starbucks commitment to fair trade includes three distinct areas:
purchasing; farmer relationships; and marketing and distribution of Fair
Trade CertifiedTM coffee.
Purchasing of Fair Trade CertifiedTM Coffee: In 2001, Starbucks
purchased 1 million pounds; in fiscal year 2002, 1.1 million pounds were
purchased; in fiscal year 2003, the Company purchased 2.1 million pounds;
and in fiscal 2004, the amount more than doubled to 4.8 million pounds.
For fiscal year 2005, Starbucks has committed to purchasing 10 million
pounds.
Farmer Relationships: Starbucks Farmer Support Center in San Jose,
Costa Rica, with its team of agronomists and sustainability experts, works
with coffee farmers and co-op managers to develop best practices for
growing quality coffee responsibly and improve the quality of coffee
crops.
Marketing and distribution of Fair Trade Certified™ coffees:
Starbucks offers customers a variety of ways to enjoy Fair Trade
Certified™ coffee. Starbucks "Fair Trade Blend" coffee is promoted as
"Coffee Of the Week" on a quarterly basis and can be brewed upon request in
Starbucks Company-operated retail stores in the U.S. and Canada. Whole bean
and ground Fair Trade Certified™ coffee is also sold by the bag
(alongside a variety of other shade-grown, organic and conservation
coffees) in retail stores. Additionally, Starbucks is working with food
service outlets and grocery and club chains to offer Fair Trade
Certified™ coffee to consumers in a wide range of retail and
specialty channels later this year.
Starbucks Comprehensive Approach to Sustainability
Starbucks strongly believes in the importance of building
mutually-beneficial relationships with coffee farmers and coffee
communities with which it works. The Starbucks approach to collaborating
with farmers and suppliers in coffee growing regions includes:
Paying premium prices to help coffee farmers make profits and support
their families
Encouraging participation in C.A.F.E. Practices (Coffee and Farmer
Equity Practices), a set of socially responsible coffee buying guidelines,
by offering preferential buying status for participants that score the
highest in social and environmental criteria on verified reports
Helping to provide access to affordable credit
Investing in social development projects
Purchasing conservation and certified coffees, such as shade grown,
Fair Trade Certified™ and certified organic, to promote responsible
environmental or economic efforts
About Starbucks
Starbucks Corporation is the leading retailer, roaster and brand of
specialty coffee in the world, with more than 9,000 retail locations in
North America, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East and the Pacific Rim.
The Company is committed to offering the highest quality coffee and the
Starbucks Experience while conducting its business in ways that produce
social, environmental and economic benefits for communities in which it
does business. In addition to its retail operations, the Company produces
and sells bottled Frappuccino(R) coffee drinks, Starbucks DoubleShot(R)
coffee drink, and a line of superpremium ice creams through its joint
venture partnerships. The Company's brand portfolio provides a wide
variety of consumer products. Tazo(R) Tea's line of innovative
superpremium teas and Hear Music'sTM exceptional compact discs enhance the
Starbucks Experience through best-of-class products. The Seattle's Best
Coffee(R) and Torrefazione Italia(R) Coffee brands enable Starbucks to
appeal to a broader consumer base by offering an alternative variety of
coffee flavor profiles.
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