Starbucks is leading a national effort to provide nourishing, ready-to-eat meals to people in need as part of the company’s FoodShare program, which has launched in San Antonio and Houston,Texas.
“People are more likely to give during this time of year and Starbucks support is particularly important because it amplifies and reinforces our message about hunger in our community,” said Nicole Suydam, CEO, Second Harvest Food Bank.
Starbucks has been recognized for the last two years as a “Best Place to Work,” receiving a 100 percent score on the Disability Equality Index survey. Marthalee Galeota referenced Starbucks success stories, and work that's still ahead.
“Sustainable clothing hasn’t always been synonymous with beautiful design,” said Jennifer Quotson, vice president of Starbucks Creative. “But ECOALF products are highly designed, with great attention to the way they fit and feel.”
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design is a rating system that evaluates a building’s environmental performance and encourages sustainable design. See photos of Starbucks latest LEED-certified stores in the U.S., Thailand and India.
Starbucks, the Common Ground Foundation and Democracy Works hosted a National Voter Registration Day block party in the Jamaica neighborhood of Queens, New York, to encourage voter registration and participation in the voting process.
"This commitment to building a different kind of company, one where everyone is welcome and where inclusion is at the core of what we do, is what makes us proud to be partners," said Lucy Helm, in a letter to Starbucks partners.
Since launching the Todos Sembramos Café program in 2014, half a million coffee trees have been delivered to 180 farms benefitting 19,000 families in Chiapas, a region known for producing some of the highest-quality arabica coffee in Mexico.
“Everybody deserves a chance,” said Lori Belfiore, Starbucks store manager. “Tim is one of the most loyal and caring partners and makes our store feel inclusive and part of the community.”
“Everybody deserves a chance,” said Lori Belfiore, Starbucks store manager. “Tim is one of the most loyal and caring partners and makes our store feel inclusive and part of the community.”
Sustainability bond offering is part of Starbucks comprehensive approach to sustainable coffee sourcing and industry leading efforts for positive environmental and social impacts in the global coffee supply chain.
“If you can incorporate sustainability in the economic model of your business, you can achieve a massive change in your business,” said Brian Jameson, vice president of Agriculture Operations and Business Development for Evolution Fresh.
“We have worked with our suppliers in China to improve labor and environmental performance to enable higher overall performance so they are positioned to grow with Starbucks as our business grows.” said Kelly Goodejohn, director, Ethical Sourcing.
“Customers who visit my store are curious about the different coffees that Starbucks offers,” said Becca Turner. “It was fun to create artwork to help tell the coffee story.”
"Our intention is nonpartisan, and it is simple: by helping to increase voter registration and participation, we believe more people will have an opportunity to make their voices count."
Starbucks FoodShare will be able to provide nearly 5 million meals to those in need of nourishing food. Starbucks intends to scale this program over the next five years and rescue 100 percent of its food available for donation.
“With every single coffee bean there is a shared passion and love that you can see from the farmers, the roaster, and hopefully the customers as well," said Dario Merlo, Country Director for Eastern Congo Initiative.
“Job creation is number one at the nursery level, but I cannot stress enough what happens on the logistics side,” said Teddy Esteve, Chief Executive Officer for ECOM. “We are creating hundreds of third-party jobs.”
"While Our Mission and Values provide the guardrails by which we act, it is up to each of us to do our part to maintain a great work environment and to lead with ethics and integrity,” said Matthew Swaya.
“It’s truly an honor to be recognized in this way,” said Jaz Rabadia, senior manager of Energy and Initiatives for Starbucks UK.
The Starbucks Origin Experience takes partners (employees) from behind the counters of stores, corporate offices and roasting plants and brings them to work alongside farmers in coffee growing regions.
The Sustainable Coffee Challenge comes at a time when consumers are drinking an estimated 600 billion cups of coffee a year, and nearly every major coffee producing region of the world is feeling the impacts of climate change.
“The Roastery is a beautiful marriage of design and efficiency that takes into consideration both a retail and manufacturing environment,” said Liz Muller, vice president of Starbucks Creative & Design.
Weaving with Mengkuang leaves used to be a leisurely pastime of coastal women in Malaysia. Today, a small Malaysian business is revisiting this craft and selling Mengkuang products in Starbucks stores.
“Being a coffee farmer is increasingly hard. It’s why I spend my days in the coffee fields helping farmers consider new ways to grow coffee that are more sustainable, long term,” said Starbucks agronomist Carlos Mario Rodriguez.
"It’s a long-term commitment. We don’t want to just build a classroom. We want to build capacities and leadership in the communities," said Rosa Rivas, executive director of the Seeds for Progress Foundation in Nicaragua.
“Supplier diversity is a business imperative and it’s also one of our core values,” said Diane Lin, director at Starbucks. “A diverse base makes us a stronger company and diverse suppliers help bring innovation and a different perspective.”
“Starbucks scale gives us the responsibility to make sure we invest in tangible ways that help to ensure farmer livelihoods and the stability of the entire supply for the industry,” said Craig Russell, Starbucks evp Global Coffee.
Former U.S. Senators Tom Daschle and Trent Lott were part of a spirited discussion with more than 300 partners in Seattle, encouraging voter education as the 2016 presidential election year approaches.
“I couldn’t walk. I couldn’t talk. I had to learn everything over,” said Cody Dietz. “Now I’m better. I’m working, obviously. I’ve had struggles sometimes, but I’ve overcome them. I’m here."
The Schultz Family Foundation is committing $30 million to helping young people enter and advance in the work force.
The magazine said its goal with the new list is to "shine a spotlight on companies that have made significant progress in addressing major social problems as a part of their core business strategy."
"Starbucks has always understood the importance of investing in coffee farmers offering access to credit and financial management training,” said William Fulbright Foote, Founder and CEO of Root Capital.
“Up to 80 percent of our cups leave the store with our customers,” said Jim Hanna, who leads environmental sustainability for Starbucks. “Reducing the waste associated with our cup sleeves is one important way we can help mitigate the impact of our packaging.”
Every coffee tells a story. “Gravitas speaks to the remarkable progress made through the Eastern Congo Initiative to put the coffee of from this region back on the map, giving Eastern Congo the recognition it deserves as a key source of high quality coffee,” said Craig Russell.
“We are committed to our mission to be a globally responsible company and to support the people of the state of California as they face this unprecedented drought,” said John Kelly, Starbucks senior vice president of Global Responsibility and Public Policy.
In 2015, Starbucks will donate thousands of seedlings from five different coffee tree hybrids developed through its research to ICAFE which will then be verified in different regions of Costa Rica most impacted by these challenging conditions.
In 2014, Starbucks invested more than $3.7 million in Origin Community Grants to help support the health and stability of coffee farming communities. Here’s how Starbucks began its journey with origin grantee Heifer International.
“From a relatively modest investment, farmers’ incomes have more than tripled, and farmers can send their children to school, put food on the table and access proper health care.”
When you look at a bag of coffee in one of our stores — it’s a beautifully packaged product. But consider what’s inside the bag and the journey of those beans. Every bag of coffee begins with a family, and healthy communities grow healthy coffee.
Starbucks York Roasting Plant received the UL certification for being a 100% Landfill Diversion facility in May of 2014. Since then, Starbucks partners in York have continued to find ways to recycle even the smallest items, such as ear plugs.
“I strongly believe that today, more than ever, companies such as Starbucks must use their platforms and resources to create opportunities for their people, as well as for the communities they serve," said Starbucks chairman and ceo Howard Schultz.
An order for two dozen community tables from a family-owned furniture business in North Carolina is one of the ways Starbucks exhibits its commitment to locally-relevant design using sustainable materials.
Recognizing the impact that rust was having on farmers' crops, Starbucks launched TODOS SEMBRAMOS CAFÉ last summer to direct 100% of the profits from whole-bean Shade Grown Mexico Coffee sold in Starbucks stores in Mexico.
The Inclusion Academy is the result of a year-long collaboration between Starbucks and the Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation (DETR). Starbucks provides training space at the Carson Valley plant and instructors for on-the-job and soft-skills practice.
"I’ve seen folks saving rainwater and feeding coffee seedlings. I asked, why aren’t you using streamwater? These old men say, “Young man you know nothing. These are the tears of God. We give our seedlings rainwater for fertility,” said Arthur Karuletwa, director of Traceability.
For the ninth year in a row, Starbucks is one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies according to the Ethisphere Institute. Only 132 companies were chosen from thousands of nominations worldwide.
“All year long we cared for and fertilized our coffee plants. In November, when the cherries were almost ripe, we began to see some plants with the fungus. They turned yellow and completely dried out in a few days,” explained Moreno, owner of La Victoria farm in Jaltenango, Chiapas.
From sustainable store designs to generous partner (employee) benefits, Starbucks has created a culture that has helped it lead the global coffee business. Now it’s planning to do the same in the rapidly growing beverage categories of juice and tea.
Unlike many coffee growing regions, where the harvested coffee cherries go straight to processing, in Sumatra, they are processed in backyards and patios.
Four Starbucks partners (employees) traveled to Rwanda’s capital city of Kigali recently to witness how funding is enhancing medical facilities and improving the lives of those who have been diagnosed with HIV/AIDS.
