As Starbucks turns 50, Michelle Burns, who leads coffee at Starbucks, and her team are working to ensure the best outcomes for coffee farmers and the land it’s grown on.

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Michelle Burns remembers vividly the trip she took to Colombia in 2018. As the sun broke through the clouds, she trekked into a rugged mountain region in Caldas, one of the country’s main coffee-producing regions – a two-and-a-half-hour ascent up through steep terrain, then down into a valley. There, she and her group were greeted by about 15 local farmers, mostly young people who’d returned home and recently started coffee farming after decades of armed conflicts in the area had subsided.

“They shared their stories with us,” recalls Burns, now Starbucks <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/leadership/michelle-burns/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">executive vice president of Global Coffee, Tea and Cocoa</a>, “stories about conflict and all the challenges that happened in Colombia, stories of moving away after losing family members who were in coffee farming.

“They’d come back to reclaim that land. And we asked them, ‘What can we do to help?’”

The moment – and her subsequent takeaway: “the incredible possibility to positively impact the lives and support the next generation of farmers” – led to the Starbucks Colombia Initiative, called “Granos de Esperanza” (grains of hope), a kind of real-time agricultural and economic innovation lab.

Today, 100 local farmers in Nariño, Colombia are learning the latest climate education, soil and fertilizer analysis techniques and coffee cultivation and business practices. They’re applying innovations gained at Hacienda Alsacia, the Starbucks research farm in Costa Rica. And they’re incorporating new technologies like eco-pulpers that use less water in the coffee-production process.

The moment also widened Burns’ perspective on the bean-to-cup journey and drove home the importance and urgency of making sure that Starbucks is committed to doing the work and making the investments to ensure a sustainable future of coffee for all, especially for those who grow it and the land they work on. 

To that end, Starbucks has opened <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/press/2021/starbucks-opens-farmer-support-center-in-brazil-for-coffee-growing/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">10 coffee farmer support centers</a> around the globe, the latest in Brazil; committed to provide 100 million healthy coffee trees to coffee farmers by 2025; provided access to low-interest loans to coffee farmers in regions where traditional banks are not an option; and piloted programs in Guatemala to help coffee-farming families diversify their income streams.

A commitment to take less and give more to the planet

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Starbucks has also <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2021/starbucks-announces-coffee-specific-environmental-goals/#:~:text=In%202020%20Starbucks%20committed%20to,50%25%2C%20both%20by%202030." target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">set goals</a> to achieve carbon-neutral green coffee and conserve water usage in green coffee processing by 50 percent, both by 2030.

“That is bold,” Burns says. “The effort that needs to happen on methodology and technology and bringing all the pieces together, it’s somewhat uncharted territory. We’re very ambitiously out there, not yet having all the answers, but trying to find the solutions.”

Specifically, Starbucks is focusing on reducing its carbon and water footprints at “the first ten feet” – starting on the farms – and reducing greenhouse gas emissions by equipping farmers with precision agronomy tools, promoting and distributing climate-resistant tree varietals and protecting and restoring at-risk forests in key coffee landscapes.

As part of its water conservation strategy, Starbucks is investing in ecological wet mills that can save up to 80 percent of water in coffee processing. To date, Starbucks has helped install 12,000 such new mills around the world.

“You think about the magnitude of water scarcity around the globe. Are there potential ways to innovate and identify and use equipment that is better for the environment? There are over 200,000 wet mills currently in our supply chain. We’ve only scratched the surface on scaling this technology.

“I am seeing the possibilities, and I get excited about the overall positive impact we can have. I feel the best knowing we’ll never hold this as our own. We’re working with others in the industry, so this work is in service to the entire coffee sector – and hopefully beyond, into the broader agricultural industry – because we’re committed to build on open sources of sharing.”

Burns still has the large handmade red ceramic mug that a fellow partner (employee) gifted her 26 years ago, her first at Starbucks. When it’s cradled in her hands, she feels familiarity and friendship, comfort and warmth. Like so many others who have a coffee ritual, this mug is part of hers.

These days, when she drinks coffee out of this mug, she’s reminded of the need to slow down and savor the moment.

For 50 years, coffee has been the core of Starbucks, and Burns always comes back to that, especially as a highly visible leader during intensely complex times – a climate crisis, crop diseases like coffee rust, a highly charged political landscape, an aging farmer population, supply chain disruptions due to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, labor and staffing shortages.

“It is important to stay true to the heart and the mission of our company, and the love for coffee, and your experience with it.

“I believe that by honoring our heritage, staying true to where and why we started as a company – strongly rooted in our mission and values, with an aspiration to make sure that in the end, we're giving more than we're taking – then we can really go after the biggest, boldest aspirations.”

That thinking led Starbucks to develop one of the coffee industry’s first ethical sourcing standards, <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/press/2020/cafe-practices-starbucks-approach-to-ethically-sourcing-coffee/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Coffee and Farmer Equity (C.A.F.E.) Practices</a>, a verification program that allows Starbucks to ensure it gets high-quality, ethically sourced coffee while also gaining insights into the challenges faced by farmers and supply chain operations in the more than 30 different coffee-producing countries around the world – and then to share that knowledge back.

C.A.F.E. Practices measures more than 200 criteria – as scored by an independent third-party auditor – in the categories of economic transparency, environmental leadership, social responsibility and quality. Starbucks pays premiums above commercial market price to help ensure coffee farmer profitability, and also financially rewards supply chains that reach the highest performance levels.

That commitment to stay rooted in Starbucks mission and values continues to drive Burns in her work – especially as a woman leading in the coffee industry – whether it’s planet-first initiatives, farmer support or increasing awareness among customers of the entire coffee-making process.

“You just think about the magnitude,” Burns says. “How many hands actually touch the coffee along the way, how many miles are there from a field to one of our stores? It’s incredible… That has to be integrated into all the ways we work, think and act. We work in support of 400,000 farmers, just like we work in support of 400,000 partners.”

Given that Starbucks buys about 800 million pounds of coffee every year, or about 5 percent of the world’s coffee, Burns says, “the potential to positively impact the lives and livelihoods of farmers and their communities is tremendous.

“People have watched us working hard to do the right things, find solutions and take great care of farmers and their communities, for decades. They grant us an amount of trust and opportunity to help lead the discussion around ensuring a sustainable future of coffee for all. That is a privilege as well as a responsibility, but it's so important that we follow through. “When I think about that challenge, and I look at what is required, and the journey ahead, my sense is, we must. We must be brave, and we must lead, and set out aspirations that are bold to take the path that can create a better future for those that grow coffee and their families, and to ensure that the beauty and art and ritual that's coffee remains in all of our cultures, for decades and decades to come.”

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Smiling woman in flowered shirt holding mug that says "Colombia"

As Starbucks turns 50, Michelle Burns, who leads coffee at Starbucks, and her team are working to ensure the best outcomes for coffee farmers and the land it’s grown on.

Working to create a more sustainable future of coffee for all

Historias para inspirar y nutrir el espíritu humano

Historieas-es

https://historias.starbucks.com/es/stories/2022/working-to-create-a-more-sustainable-future-of-coffee-for-all/

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This page shows data from our 2020 Report. For the most up-to-date goals and progress, see our <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2022/starbucks-global-environmental-and-social-impact-report-2021/">2021 Global Environmental &amp; Social Impact Report</a>.

With a mission to inspire and nurture the human spirit, Starbucks has always looked to make positive connections and impacts on people and communities around the world. This summary shows our progress in fiscal 2020, including our achievements, highlights and goals for work to come.

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Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, our Starbucks partners, customers and communities have been resilient and inspiring in the face of unprecedented challenges. Our activities in FY20 and FY21 to date have been guided by three principles we established toward the beginning of the pandemic, and we continually provide updates on our pandemic-related efforts <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/press/2020/navigating-through-covid-19/">here</a>.

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<a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/press/2021/a-message-from-starbucks-ceo-kevin-johnson-our-2020-impact/">A message from Kevin Johnson: Our 2020 impact</a>

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Supporting documents and data tables for the 2020 Report, including the Impact Summary Scorecard, Planet Positive Performance and Sustainability Accounting Standards Board Reporting, can be found <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://stories.starbucks.com/uploads/2021/04/2020-Starbucks-GESI-Report-Supporting-Documents.pdf" target="_blank">here</a>. FY20 Third Party Independent Verification and Assurance Reports can be found <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://stories.starbucks.com/uploads/2021/04/Starbucks-FY20-Third-Party-Independent-Verification-and-Assurance-Reports.pdf" target="_blank">here</a>.

This summary shows our progress in fiscal 2020, including our achievements, highlights and goals for the work to come.

Starbucks 2020 Global Environmental and Social Impact Report

2020 Starbucks Global Environmental and Social Impact Report

https://historias.starbucks.com/es/stories/2021/starbucks-global-environmental-and-social-impact-report-2020/

Coffee is at our core. We are committed to sourcing coffee responsibly, for the betterment of people and planet, so we can ensure a <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/press/2019/building-a-sustainable-future-for-coffee-together/">sustainable future of coffee</a>.

ETHICALLY SOURCED COFFEE

Goal: Committed to 100% ethically sourced coffee in partnership with Conservation International From 2015 to 2019, 99% of Starbucks coffee was verified as ethically sourced as measured by C.A.F.E. Practices, our ethical sourcing verification program developed in partnership with Conservation International. Measuring farms against economic, social and environmental criteria, the C.A.F.E. Practices program is designed to promote transparent and sustainable coffee growing practices while also helping protect the well-being of coffee farmers and workers, their families and their communities.

In FY20, due to restrictions caused by COVID-19, auditing teams were unable to complete all the necessary in-person, on-farm audits of our coffee production, resulting in expiration for farms whose verification ended in FY20 and were not audited. This resulted in 98.6% of our coffee coming in FY20 from C.A.F.E. Practice-verified farms.

50 Million to Date, 10 Million in FY20

Goal: Provide 100 million trees to farmers by 2025 In FY20, we distributed 10 million trees to farmers in Mexico, Guatemala and El Salvador. Over the past five years as part of our 10-year, 100 million-tree commitment, Starbucks has donated nearly 50 million coffee trees to farmers. These new trees are bred to be resistant to coffee rust, a disease associated with climate change, and they’re replacing trees declining in productivity, which can, in turn, help farmers improve the quality and yields of their harvest and improve their revenue.

Nine Farmer Support Centers, 200,000 Farmers Trained

Goal: Train 200,000 farmers by the end of 2020 More than 40,000 farmers were trained in FY20, enabling us to reach our goal of training 200,000 farmers by the end of 2020. Starbucks operates nine Farmer Support Centers worldwide, where agronomists and quality experts work alongside coffee farmers – whether they sell to Starbucks or not – to share tools and information to help increase the productivity, quality and profitability of coffee on their farms and improve their livelihoods. In FY20, due to COVID-19 restrictions, we incorporated online training tools and resources to continue these efforts while supporting the health and safety of our partners, suppliers, farmers and their communities.&nbsp;

Goal: Strengthen our coffee communities In FY20, Starbucks launched a new initiative in Guatemala focused on providing safe spaces for local and migrant workers’ children to continue their education during the coffee harvest season. Five new centers opened during the 2020-21 harvest season, with co-investment from coffee suppliers and implementation by FUNCAFE and Coffee Care. Starbucks also established a $100,000 Capital Improvement fund to support initial and on-going childcare center improvements, along with preparing childcare center locations to open in a safe and welcoming way.

&nbsp;$42.9 Million to Date

$2.8 Million in FY20

Goal: $50 million in farmer loans by the end of 2020 The Starbucks Global Farmer Fund was founded to improve supply chain resiliency and ensure a long-term supply of coffee by addressing the unmet financing needs of farmers. As of FY20, we have invested $42.9 million in the Fund, partnering with <a href="https://rootcapital.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Root Capital</a> and <a href="https://www.responsability.com/en" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">ResponsAbility</a> to provide coffee businesses and farmers with access to low-interest loans in regions where traditional banks are not an option due to high interest rates. Loans allow farmers to plant new trees and improve their infrastructure.&nbsp;

In addition, we have continued our Emergency Farmer Relief Fund for a second year to further support farmers who were negatively impacted by low global coffee prices. These secondary payments go directly to smallholder farmers in Central America to subsidize their income, helping to offset low prices compared to cost of production. Although market conditions were slightly better than in FY19, we distributed more than $2.8 million to farmers in Guatemala and Nicaragua in FY20.&nbsp;

STARBUCKS DIGITAL TRACEABILITY

Launched for Consumers, Testing Among Farmers

Goal: Create connection between coffee farmers and coffee consumers; empower farmers and support coffee farm communities As a continuation of our ethical sourcing commitment, in FY20 we launched the new <a href="https://traceability.starbucks.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Starbucks Digital Traceability</a> web tool, which provides a way for customers to engage directly with their coffee and learn more about its journey, from bean to cup. Customers can use the traceability tool to scan a bag of their favorite coffee at a Starbucks store, discover the global origin of their beans, and read about the farmers who grow it. We are continuing to explore how digital tools can empower farmers and best support farming communities by leveraging the traceability technology and platform to give farmers the ability to trace their coffee beans, so they can see where their beans go and the final product they become. In FY20 in Rwanda, we piloted a call-in platform for farmers to get agronomy tips and green coffee price information for their local markets. More than 19,000 farmers used the service over three months.

Tea: 99.7% in FY20, Cocoa: 100% in FY20

In FY20, we sourced 99.7% of tea from Rainforest Alliance certified farms. For cocoa-based beverage ingredients, 100% of cocoa beans are ethically sourced from either COCOA Practices-verified supply chains or UTZ certified farms. The UTZ program is now part of the Rainforest Alliance. We continue to strengthen our approach, programs and partnerships for sustainably sourcing tea and cocoa.

Read more and see fiscal 2021 updates on our progress in the full report.

We are committed to sourcing coffee responsibly, for the betterment of people and planet, so we can ensure a sustainable future of coffee.

Starbucks 2020 Global Environmental and Social Impact Report: Coffee

https://historias.starbucks.com/es/stories/2021/gesi-report-2020-coffee/

Coffee is at our core. We are committed to sourcing coffee responsibly, for the betterment of people and planet, so we can ensure a sustainable future of coffee.

coffee

Working to create a more sustainable future of coffee for all

2020 Starbucks Global Environmental and Social Impact Report

2020 Report: Coffee

2020 Report: Coffee

2020 Report: Coffee

2020 Report: Coffee

2020 Report: Coffee

2020 Report: Coffee