Community involvement through public policy

Starbucks commitment to being actively involved in the communities we serve extends to our approach to public policy. We believe we have a responsibility to advocate policies that support the health of our business, our partners and communities we are part of.

In the U.S. and the other regions around the world, we meet with government officials at the local, state and federal levels.

In most European Member States where we operate stores, contacts with government officials are focused at the municipal level to support local communities. In some Member States, such as the United Kingdom, we have also engaged with government officials at the national level.

In China, we regularly meet with the government at various levels to discuss policies and regulations that are important to Starbucks business.

Around the globe, Starbucks participates in various business associations and coalitions. In all of our efforts, our approach is to work fairly and honestly with public officials and community members while working to comply with all applicable laws and regulations.

Doing business ethically goes beyond good intentions. Starbucks policy forbids partners from offering or making payments or gifts on behalf of the company in order to influence a government official, or from representing their personal views as those of the company.

Government and Civic Affairs Transparency

We know that our customers and our shareholders expect us to be transparent and accountable for how we do business. This expectation also extends to corporate political spending.

In fiscal 2008, Starbucks did not have a Political Action Committee established for our partners in the United States to make political contributions, nor did the company make corporate political contributions to candidates or campaigns. We still think it's important that we have policies and procedures that broaden disclosure and accountability related to these kinds of expenditures. Our goal is to have these policies and procedures in place prior to our annual shareholder meeting in the spring of 2010.

Public Policy Focus Areas

Starbucks focuses our public policy efforts around issues that have the greatest potential impact on our business, our partners (employees) and our shareholders. Our efforts are focused on the following:

Climate Change – Recognizing the devastating impact global climate change can have on coffee farmers and their livelihoods, in fiscal 2008 we expanded our public policy efforts to include combating climate change. In November 2008, we joined the BICEP coalition, a group of companies advocating for climate change and clean energy legislation.

Health and Wellness – The growing importance of health and wellness issues to our customers and public policy makers has encouraged us to engage in dialogue with government officials and other stakeholders regarding how to best to provide consumers the nutritional information they need to make informed purchases.

Healthcare – Continuing to provide healthcare benefits to our eligible full- and part-time partners as we've done since 1988 is a critical commitment by which Starbucks stands. However, we are greatly concerned about the impact rising healthcare costs will have on our long-term ability to offer these benefits. In fiscal 2009, we may participate in national healthcare reform efforts to provide our partners access to affordable quality healthcare.

Starbucks Position on National Healthcare Reform

Tax Policy – Sound tax policy will continue to play a key role in the competitiveness of U.S.-based companies, including Starbucks. Starbucks closely monitors tax policy developments and has advocated for a tax structure that is fair and that provides incentives for the creation of U.S. jobs.

Trade Policy – Starbucks supports trade agreements and policies that help to create economic opportunities in emerging markets either where we have – or hope to have – retail operations or buy coffee and other products. We provide input to U.S. and foreign governments on the impact specific trade agreements will have on our business by addressing barriers to U.S. exports, providing safeguards for intellectual property and trademarks, and promoting transparency on both sides of the trading relationship. In fiscal 2008, our advocacy efforts supported free trade agreements with Peru, Colombia and Korea, as well as general market access issues.