Coffee Purchasing

Coffee Purchasing

Starbucks is committed to buying and serving high-quality coffee that is responsibly grown and ethically traded. We have set a goal that by 2015, all of our coffee will be third-party verified or certified, either through Coffee and Farmer Equity (C.A.F.E.) Practices, Fairtrade, or another third-party certified or verified program.

The cornerstone of our approach is C.A.F.E. Practices, a comprehensive set of social, economic, environmental and quality guidelines developed in collaboration with Conservation International (CI). We continued to make progress this year, moving from 81 percent in 2009 to 84 percent of our total green coffee purchases C.A.F.E. Practices-verified sources.

Working toward our 2015 goal, we continue to purchase third-party certified and verified coffees grown in ways that contribute to environmental protection and/or economic sustainability. We have offered Fairtrade coffee since 2000, and in 2010 nearly 7.9 percent of our coffee purchases were Fairtrade certified, making us one of the largest purchasers of Fairtrade certified coffee in the world. We also reached a significant milestone in March 2010, when we switched 100 percent of the espresso coffee sold in our stores in UK and Europe to Fairtrade certified. We also purchased 3.6 percent of certified organic coffee in 2010. By purchasing these certified coffees, we hope to not only meet our customers’ needs but also to help protect the environment and farmers’ livelihoods in coffee-growing regions.

An important component of our approach is a pricing model that aims to pay equitable prices for premium coffee while fostering price stability and mutually beneficial relationships with farmers. Starbucks paid an average price of $1.56 per pound for our premium green (unroasted) coffee in 2010.

Farmer Support

The majority of our coffee is sourced from tens of thousands of family farms with less than 30 acres (roughly 12 hectares) of land, and we’re steadfastly committed to helping small-scale farmers thrive now and in the future.

Our farmer support services continue to enhance responsible practices in coffee-growing regions around the world. In addition to our Starbucks Farmer Support Centers serving Central America and East Africa, we plan to open our first Asia Farmer Support Center in the Yunnan province of China in 2012. These centers bring Starbucks agronomists and quality experts directly to coffee farmers to help them implement more responsible growing practices, improve the quality and size of their harvests, and ultimately earn better incomes.

We’ve also been reaching out to small-scale farmers through our Small Farmer Sustainability Initiative (SFSI). The effort, launched in 2009, is a three-year pilot program in partnership with Fair Trade USA and Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International that leverages our shared commitment to support small-scale farmers. Through the SFSI, Fairtrade farmer cooperatives are eligible to apply for loans from the funds supported by Starbucks to help improve livelihoods and promote environmental stewardship and economic stability in the coffee industry.In 2010 our loan commitments to Root Capital, Verde Ventures and the Calvert Foundation reached a total of $14.6 million. In 2010 alone this support helped nearly 56,000 farmers who grow our coffee in ten countries. By investing in programs that provide access to credit, we’re helping farmers manage risk and strengthen their businesses.

Forest Carbon Programs

We are concerned about the potential impacts of climate change on coffee-growing regions. To help address this issue, the newest phase of our partnership with CI works with 33 coffee-producing communities in Chiapas, Mexico, and Sumatra, Indonesia, to improve coffee production, conserve and restore natural habitat, and explore opportunities to facilitate farmer access to forest carbon markets. Each project illustrates different approaches to addressing climate challenges facing coffee producers and explores the potential of the carbon market to benefit both livelihoods and conservation efforts. We are optimistic that the results of this phase of our pilot will promote a program we can expand to our other coffee-growing communities.