Starbucks Coffee: Sourcing and Flavor

Starbucks and Coffee

• Starbucks exclusively buys and roasts high-quality arabica coffee
• This coffee is found within the Coffee Belt
• Starbucks' mission and values focus on the quality of its coffee and customer experience since 1971

Factors Influencing Coffee Flavor

• Factors influencing coffee flavor, from growing and processing to roasting and blending, will be explored
• Ethical coffee purchasing and quality assurance from farm to cup are also covered

Starbucks' Ethical Sourcing

• Ethical sourcing ensures products are acquired responsibly and sustainably, especially for coffee
• This involves ensuring safe and fair working conditions for farmers and considering environmental/social impacts
• Since 1971, Starbucks has been committed to ethical sourcing

C.A.F.E. Practices and Conservation International

• In 1998, Starbucks partnered with Conservation International (CI), a nonprofit environmental organization
• In 2001, guidelines with Conservation International to ensure ethically grown and traded coffee, verification program C.A.F.E. Practices was created.
• C.A.F.E. stands for Coffee and Farmer Equity

C.A.F.E. Practices Overview

• C.A.F.E (Coffee and Farmer Equity) practices help create a long-term supply of high-quality coffee
• Their goal is to positively impact the lives and livelihoods of coffee farmers and their communities
• It is a set of sustainability standards in the coffee industry, verified by a third party

Quality Standards

• For coffee to be purchased, it needs to pass quality team standards through cupping (tasting).
• The higher the quality, the higher the price paid to the farmer.
• Starbucks tastes over 250,000 cups of coffee each year to ensure its quality.

Economic Transparency

• Starbucks changed coffee industry in 1998 by implementing economic transparency
• Suppliers must submit evidence of payments for green coffee, including how much was paid to farmers
• Economic transparency makes it possible to know which farms the beans come from, the farmers, and the price paid
• Transparency maintains strong relationships through supply chain and these relationships with suppliers/farmers must to be built on trust and honesty.

Social Responsibility in Coffee Production

• Coffee producers need to protect the rights of people laboring on their farms
• Producers need to implement measures that promote a safe, fair, and humane work environment
• Social responsibility includes providing habitable living conditions and investing in housing, wells, education, and medical care
• C.A.F.E. Practices requires suppliers to not discriminate in hiring and pay workers the minimum legal wage

Community Impact

• C.A.F.E. Practices positively impacts one million seasonal workers on coffee farms
• Third-party verification shows that almost all children in coffee-growing communities attend school (99%)
• Protecting worker/family rights benefits the coffee community and encourages a better future

Environmental Leadership in Coffee Production

• Environmental measures include managing waste, protecting water quality, conserving water/energy, preserving biodiversity, and reducing agrochemical use
• Shade trees prevent soil erosion from heavy rains
• Environmental leadership helps farmers adapt to climate change impacts

Coffee Certification Organizations

• Starbucks purchases Fairtrade-certified and organic-certified coffees in addition to C.A.F.E. Practices coffees
• Fairtrade coffees are grown to support farmers/communities and to protect the environment

Fairtrade Coffee Standards

• Fairtrade focuses on small farms that organize into cooperatives to promote and sell the products
• Fairtrade-certified coffee guarantees a minimum price as a safety net when prices drop
• Fairtrade coffee farmers have the security to receive a price that covers costs of production
• Beyond the price, cooperatives are paid the Fairtrade Premium, which they invest to help their communities

Organic Coffee

• Coffee is "organic" when no pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, or chemical fertilizers are used during any stage of the process
• Organic farming is an approach to develop ecosystems capable of managing pests, disease, and vegetation while reducing or eliminating chemical use
• Coffee must be certified organic by a third party separate from the producer and buyer
• It can take up to three years for a farm to become certified organic, and substantial investment is required

C.A.F.E. Practices as a Verification Program

• C.A.F.E. Practices shares tools and resources for long-term improvements in the sustainability of farms
• These Practices were developed as a verification program, not a one-time certification system

Starbucks Ethical Sourcing Commitments

• Starbucks sources coffee in compliance with C.A.F.E practices, made up of Quality, Economic Transparency, Social Responsibility and Environmental Leadership
• Starbucks is committed to ethically sourcing 100% of its coffee in partnership with Conservation International
• Coffee is sourced in ways that meet present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own