Starbucks mission to inspire and nurture the human spirit extends well beyond our customers, partners and cafes. We take pride in conducting business responsibly and supporting communities where we do business, from bean to cup. As a company that buys three percent of the world’s coffee, sourced from more than 400,000 farmers in more than 30 countries, Starbucks understands our future is inextricably tied to the future of farmers and their families. 

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The cornerstone of our ethical sourcing approach to buying coffee is Coffee and Farmer Equity (C.A.F.E.) Practices, which was one of the coffee industry’s first set of ethical sourcing standards when it launched in 2004. Developed in collaboration with Conservation International, C.A.F.E. Practices is a verification program that measures farms against economic, social and environmental criteria, all designed to promote transparent, profitable and sustainable coffee growing practices while also protecting the well-being of coffee farmers and workers their families and their communities. C.A.F.E. Practices has helped Starbucks create a long-term supply of high-quality coffee and positively impact the lives and livelihoods of coffee farmers and their communities. The open-sourced program consists of more than 200 indicators – from financial reporting to protecting workers’ rights and conserving water and biodiversity. The program includes a third-party verification process that is overseen by SCS Global Services, responsible for ensuring the quality and integrity of the audits. 

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To see the full list of evaluation criteria, <a href="https://www.scsglobalservices.com/services/starbucks-cafe-practices">download the C.A.F.E. Practices scorecard</a>. 

C.A.F.E. Practices is a verification program, not a one-time certification system, because we believe there is always more work to do to ensure the long-term supply of high-quality coffee and to positively impact farming communities. We are continuously improving this program by working with groups such as Conservation International to measure the true impact our purchasing programs have on participating farmers and producers. The program allows Starbucks to gain insights into the challenges faced by farmers and supply chain operations in the more than 30 different coffee-producing countries around the world.

In addition, when Starbucks is notified of zero tolerance violations, we take immediate action, conducting an investigation which could lead to suspending the commercial relationship with a farm until the case has been clarified. Based on our investigation we may ask our supplier to work with a farm to address any issue including the development of a work plan describing how the issue will be corrected. The implementation of a corrective action plan and the actual correction of any zero tolerance criteria is then re-evaluated by an approved third-party verification organization. This process ensures that any infractions are addressed effectively. We believe that our continuous improvement approach is the right approach to promote positive change amongst these suppliers and farms to ensure a positive future for everyone involved in coffee. 

<strong>Additional Farmer Support Programs:</strong>

C.A.F.E. Practices is just one of the ways in which we support our supply chains and farming communities. We have invested more than $150 million to date to increase the prosperity and resilience of the farmers and workers who grow coffee around the world by investing in coffee communities, sharing technical coffee knowledge, and innovating with new agricultural approaches. <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2019/building-a-sustainable-future-for-coffee-together/">Click here</a> to read more about our programs including farmer loans, our open-source agronomy work, farmer support centers and tree donations. 

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C.A.F.E. Practices: Starbucks Approach to Ethically Sourcing Coffee

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