Starbucks Celebrates 18 Years of Don’t Let It Fall Initiative in Puerto Rico

A group of 52 partners (employees) participated in the annual initiative, which aims to support local coffee farmers during the busy harvest season.

San Juan, Puerto Rico - In ongoing efforts to support coffee-growing communities, Starbucks Puerto Rico recently commemorated the 18^th edition of its "Don't Let it Fall" (“No lo Dejes Caer”) initiative, a transformative program in which Starbucks Puerto Rico partners (employees) support coffee farmers during peak coffee harvest season by visiting local farms across the island to aid in the collection of coffee cherries that would otherwise go to waste. This year, 52 Starbucks Puerto Rico partners participated in the initiative by volunteering to visit Hacienda Encantos in Jayuya.

"This is one of the most important social impact initiatives for Starbucks Puerto Rico, providing our partners with the opportunity to experience and learn about the origin of the coffee we serve daily in our stores,” said Idis Ortiz López, general manager of Starbucks Puerto Rico. “Collecting coffee cherries and learning about the various components of the coffee growing process allows our green apron partners to collaborate in the last 10 feet of the coffee production process while deepening their knowledge about coffee.”

Starbucks annual “Don’t Let It Fall” initiative was launched in 2005 as a program to raise awareness among partners and members of the community about the need for additional labor support in response to substantial loss of coffee cherries due to lack of farm workers.

With the “Don’t Let It Fall” initiative, Starbucks remains committed to responsible coffee sourcing while working to empower farmers and positively impact the communities it serves.