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Close, But No Cigar

Starbucks¹ Programs Show Improvement in Commitment to Fair Trade, But Not Nearly Enough

Statement by Deborah James, Global Exchange Monday, October 22, 2001

On Friday Starbucks announced new programs related to Fair Trade Certified coffee, including the commitment to purchase 1 million pounds of coffee over the next 18 months.  Global Exchange is pleased about any increase in the amount of Fair Trade Certified coffee purchased in the United States, as it means a direct and immediate improvement in the lives of farmers around the world.  However, the announcement falls short of offering brewed Fair Trade coffee at least once a week at all store locations, a move that would prove a significant commitment to Fair Trade. The 1 million pound announcement still puts Starbucks, a company with over $3 billion in sales last year, far behind other industry leaders such as Equal Exchange, a $7 million company, which purchased over 1.2 million pounds of Fair Trade Certified coffee in

2000.  And Starbucks¹ volume as a percentage of sales is still far below the industry minimum standard of 5% Fair Trade shared by almost every other of the 100 companies offering Fair Trade Certified coffee.

For the last two years, Global Exchange has been pressuring Starbucks to carry a significant amount of Fair Trade Certified coffee.  In April of 2000 Starbucks announced it had signed an agreement with TransFair USA to begin offering Fair Trade coffee.  As a result of this grassroots pressure, Starbucks began selling Fair Trade Certified whole bean coffee in over 2300 stores on October 4, 2000.  Since then Global Exchange and a wide network of human rights and environmental organizations demanded that Starbucks commit to a larger volume by offering Fair Trade Certified coffee as its brewed ³Coffee of the Day² at least once a week.  Starbucks¹ new announcement fails to meet this demand.

While Starbucks slowly and slightly increases its Fair Trade Certified offerings, a crisis has enveloped the coffee industry which is threatening the livelihoods of coffee producers around the world. Tens of thousands of Mexican coffee farmers have fled their fields in search of incomes to feed their families. El Salvador recently acknowledged that over 30,000 jobs have been destroyed because of the price slump. Many of the 60,000 coffee producers in Nicaragua are facing losing their land because of mass indebtedness. Farmers in all three countries have taken to the streets to demand government support for farmers on the brink of starvation. Political unrest is brewing.

The coffee crisis gives new urgency to efforts to promote the alternative‹Fair Trade. Fair Trade corrects market imbalances by guaranteeing a minimum price for small farmers' harvest, and encouraging organic and sustainable cultivation practices. Fair Trade farmer cooperatives are assured a minimum of $1.26 per pound. With a fair and stable income, coffee growers are able to invest in their families' health care and education. The Fair Trade system currently benefits 500,000 farming families in 20 countries. Consumers can purchase Fair Trade coffee at approximately 7,000 retail locations in the US.

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Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Starbucks buying more Fair Trade coffee beans

Friday, October 19, 2001

By KATHY MULADY SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

Starbucks Coffee announced yesterday that it will buy a million pounds of Fair Trade Certified coffee within the next 18 months, and also is giving $1 million to be used for capital investments, quality improvement, credit, and other initiatives to boost the standard of living for coffee farmers.

The Seattle-based coffee company will also begin offering Fair Trade coffee once a month as its coffee of the day.

Starbucks was unable to say specifically last night how much Fair Trade coffee it purchased last year.

"This is substantially more," said Dennis Stefanacci, senior vice president of corporate responsibility at Starbucks. "We have been committed to this program for a long time and have been looking for a sufficient supply. As we find more coffee, we will buy more."

The $1 million will be administered through Calvert Social Investment Foundation to the farmers.

"In a time when coffee farmers around the world are struggling to support their families and keep their farms, coffee companies like Starbucks need to take a leadership role in helping stabilize this unfortunate, and in some cases, life-threatening situation in coffee growing regions," said Orin Smith, president and chief executive of Starbucks.

Starbucks plans to buy 1 million pounds of Fair Trade green (unroasted) coffee that meets the company's quality standards in the next 12 to 18 months.

Starbucks will encourage its college and university accounts to sell Fair Trade coffee as its main offering beginning in January.

The company also plans to begin offering Fair Trade Certified coffee in some of its international markets early next year.

Starbucks, which has been criticized for not brewing Fair Trade Coffee in its stores often enough, is planning to begin offering Fair Trade Certified coffee as its coffee of the day at all of its stores on the 20th of each month starting in spring.

The Seattle-based coffee company, which has more than 2,900 stores in the United States, entered into an agreement with TransFair USA in April and began selling Fair Trade coffee in its stores last October.

TransFair certifies Fair Trade coffee, guaranteeing that farmers will receive $1.26 per pound for the beans.

A glut of coffee on the world market is keeping prices low and forcing farmers to abandon their fields. Yesterday, coffee for December delivery was selling for 46 cents a pound on the Coffee, Sugar & Cocoa Exchange in New York.

Paul Rice, executive director of TransFair USA, based in Oakland, Calif., said farmers in Mexico, forced to sell their coffee through middlemen, are getting 18 cents a pound.

The larger the market for Fair Trade coffee, the more farmers will benefit.

"In Nicaragua and Costa Rica, there is so much desperation, the only source of hope is the possibility of selling their coffee to fair trade," said Rice.

"This is a huge purchase for us," said company spokeswoman Audrey Lincoff, "It is a significant commitment on our part."

P-I reporter Kathy Mulady can be reached at 206-448-8131 or kathymulady@seattlepi.com

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Deborah James, Fair Trade Director Global Exchange

deborah@globalexchange.org

415.255.7296  x245

415.255.7498  fax 2017 Mission Street #303, San Francisco, CA 94110

http://www.globalexchange.org/economy/coffee

Buying Fair Trade Certified coffee is a simple, easy thing you can do on a daily basis to support fairness for farmers around the world.  At least when it comes to our daily brew, there is finally an independently monitored alternative to sweatshops that sets a standard for Fair Trade in the global economy.