THE STARBUCKS CASE - Corporate Social Responsibility
Where do you buy your coffee? Does it really make a difference? YES!
More companies are embracing Corporate Social Responsibility. One of the biggest players is Starbucks, with the largest buying power of any coffee chain in the US. On April 19th, 2010 Starbucks released its 9th annual Global Responsibility Report, outlining the company’s performance in ethical sourcing, environmental stewardship and community involvement (1). So what exactly has one of the largest coffee companies in America been doing to improve their impacts on the community, economy, and environment?
Starbuck’s trademark “Shared Planet” program concentrates on the community, the environment and ethical sourcing.
Starbucks Community Involvement:
Through the community program Starbucks has created a number of programs to encourage community involvement. Through the program Starbucks encourages young people to take action through youth action grants and partnering with “Youth Venture” and the “International Youth Foundation, where young people help communities and gain leadership skills. The community program also supports the Ethos water fund; from every bottle of water that is purchased Starbucks donates 5 cents to the program that goes to support water, sanitation and hygiene education programs in water-stressed countries. The Starbucks Red program helps support people suffering with HIV/AIDS in Africa, when a customer purchases a Red product they are helping fund the program. Starbucks also helps fund social development projects in communities that supply their coffee as well as education in China and support for rebuilding efforts on the golf coast where hurricanes Katrina and Rita hit. Although community service hours from employees and customers decreased in 2009 Starbucks is looking at new ways to reach their goal of 1 million community service hours per year by 2015
Starbucks Environmental Stewardship:
Starbucks efforts in Environmental Stewardship involve goals in the areas of energy conservation, water conservation and waste reduction. In terms of waste reduction their goal is to have recycling available in all of their stores where they control waste collection and serve 25% of beverages in reusable cups. The consumer saves 10 cents on a cup of coffee if they use a reusable cup. They are also exploring different options for recyclable cups. By the end of 2010 Starbucks aims to reduce energy usage by 25% as well as purchasing 50% of their energy from renewable sources. All new company owned properties plan to be LEED® certified, green building. The water conservation goal is to reduce water usage by 25% in company-owned stores beginning in late 2015.
Starbucks Ethical Sourcing:
At Starbucks ethical sourcing starts with the farmer. Conservation international has helped Starbucks develop “Coffee and Farmer Equity (C.A.F.E)” practices that help farmers grow coffee in a way that’s better for people and the planet. It measures standards in the following key areas; product quality, economic accountability (transparency), social responsibility (safe, fair and humane working conditions) and environmental leadership (conserve water, energy, biodiversity and reduce chemical usage). Starbucks also purchases Fair Trade Certified coffee that empowers small scale farmers to compete in a global market, while helping their communities and protecting the environment. Beginning in 2009 Starbucks worked with Conserve International to help reduce carbon emissions, adapt to climate change and began a pilot program to for forest conservation incentives in Latin America. Starbucks also applies ethical sourcing to teas, cocoas and other goods.
So, the answer is yes it does matter where you buy your coffee. Starbucks is the largest coffee chain in the US, with over 8000 locations across the country (2).
Reference:
1. Starbucks™ Shared Planet™ Goals and Progress Report 2009 http://www.starbucks.com/responsibility/learn-more/goals-and-progress
2. “Counting Beans” June 11, 2006 L.A. Times Article; Jerry Hirsch http://articles.latimes.com/2006/jun/11/business/fi-peets11/2