The coffee you order helps support our commitment to farmers and their communities. From donating disease-resistant coffee trees to investing in sustainable agricultural practices and conserving water in coffee processing, we’re working to empower communities and improve livelihoods.

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The Starbucks approach to ethical sourcing

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A collage of three images: On the left, a closeup of a basket of red coffee cherries with people's hands picking them up. In the center, a male Starbucks barista handing a ceramic cup of coffee to a customer. On the right, a female coffee farmer in Brazil standing in a field of coffee trees wearing a hat and red plaid shirt.

From donating disease-resistant coffee trees to investing in sustainable agricultural practices, we’re working to empower communities.

Uplifting communities with every cup

Stories to inspire and nurture the human spirit

Starbucks Stories

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From donating disease-resistant coffee trees to investing in sustainable agricultural practices and conserving water in coffee processing, we’re working to empower communities and improve livelihoods.

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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.

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, Social Impact &amp; Sustainability</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. &nbsp;

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

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 1,300 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

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In celebration of the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, take a virtual field trip to Costa Rica to meet some of the agronomists and farmers working to address the effects of climate change, disease and diminishing natural resources on coffee farming. They want to ensure your coffee cup – all of our cups – stays full well into the future.

Most coffee drinkers will tell you that coffee, especially in uncertain times, is more than a beverage.

A cup of coffee can represent comfort, stability, a respite – a taste of normality, especially in a world that currently feels anything but. It represents much the same to the people who grow coffee.

“I have coffee for breakfast, at noon, at 2 p.m., and at night I have another cup. It’s like one of my daily meals,” said Ana Mendez, laughing. She and her husband farm coffee on several small plots in Costa Rica.

She said she often thinks of the people around the world drinking the coffee they grow.

“I would want to tell them behind every cup of coffee there is sacrifice, there is work, there is hope, and there is love,” Mendez said. “There is so much love.”

Yet coffee is at a bit of a crossroads. There are more coffee drinkers in the world than ever before, but each year, climate change, disease and diminishing natural resources can make the business of coffee farming more and more difficult. In 2013, Starbucks purchased a coffee farm in Costa Rica called Hacienda Alsacia to better understand these challenges, and to look for solutions. Since then, the farm has become a global hub of research and discovery – discoveries the team there hopes will help coffee farmers all over the planet and the ongoing challenges they face.

In celebration of an unusual Earth Day this year, but one on which the world is uncommonly united in purpose, join us on a virtual field trip to Costa Rica, where you can meet some of the agronomists and farmers working hard to make sure your coffee cup – all of our cups – stays full well into the future.

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“The most complicated problems we have now are (coffee leaf) rust and climate change. It’s affected us a lot,” said Raul Blanco, a 22-year-old farmer in Costa Rica who sells coffee to Starbucks.

A seventh-generation coffee farmer, Blanco said he was born into coffee, and remains dedicated to the future of the crop and his family’s land. He also loves imagining his family’s coffee making its way into the cups of coffee drinkers all over the world.

“I've never in my life thought about giving up coffee farming,” Blanco said. “Instead, I've always tried to look for ways to subsist as a coffee farmer, to improve it, day by day, to making (the farm) more profitable, more economical, and always taking care of the environment. Every coffee bean, every bushel of coffee, every truck full you take out every day is for someone somewhere in the world to enjoy it – for someone who is having a cup of coffee to delight in it.”

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Starbucks purchases three percent of the world’s coffee, which is grown by more than 400,000 farmers much like Blanco. Here are six things Starbucks and coffee farmers around the world are doing to help ensure the future of coffee is sustainable and strong:

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There’s a sign in the Hacienda Alsacia visitors’ center that reads, “Our mission is to ensure the future of coffee for everyone.” This means Hacienda Alsacia sharing its agronomy research, sustainable farming practices and disease-resistant coffee trees with farmers all over the world so their farms can be more productive and sustainable, which means they can grow even more sustainable, high-quality coffee for Starbucks to buy (and for people to drink), which means coffee farmers have more money to support their families and communities.

“A future without coffee would be almost like a future without rain – on an economic level, for Costa Rica, for families, and also on a personal level for coffee drinkers,” Mendez said. “I feel optimistic about coffee. We always plant more trees because we have to teach to the children, and we must protect nature and the environment.”

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This Earth Day, meet some of the people working to make coffee sustainable - Starbucks Stories

This Earth Day, meet some of the people working to make coffee sustainable

In celebration of the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, take a virtual field trip to Costa Rica to meet some of the agronomists and farmers working to address the effects of climate change.

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Sustainability is core to who we are at Starbucks. Over the years, with the help of our partners, customers, industry experts and advocates, we’ve looked for ways to help protect our planet, including ethically sourcing our coffee, developing a Greener Store Framework, making investments in renewable energy and championing a more sustainable cup. We recently announced a new sustainability commitment to be resource positive, including preliminary goals of reducing carbon, water and waste 50 percent by 2030.

To learn more, read on for an&nbsp;at-a-glance look at Starbucks sustainability milestones, with the latest updates <a href="#2022">here</a>.

Opens its first store in Seattle’s Pike Place Market, selling whole bean coffee, tea and spices.

Begins its first test of a coffeehouse concept, serving to-go beverages in paper cups.

Unveils Starbucks Mission Statement: “To establish Starbucks as the premier purveyor of the finest coffee in the world while maintaining our uncompromising principles as we grow.” 

Establishes environmental mission statement, committing to “a role of environmental leadership in all facets of our business.” 

Rolls out <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2015/starbucks-coffee-grounds-for-the-garden/">Grounds for Your Garden</a> program in U.S. and Canada.

Establishes a relationship with the nonprofit Environmental Defense Fund to explore ways to reduce the environmental impact of its cups.

Introduces soymilk, Starbucks first non-dairy milk alternative. 

Develops a cup sleeve made from recycled content to help eliminate the practice of double-cupping.

Establishes The Starbucks Foundation, whose mission is to strengthen communities around the world by creating opportunities for populations that face barriers, advancing sustainability initiatives and promoting civic engagement. 

Forms partnership with Conservation International&nbsp;to create Starbucks first ethical sourcing program.

Issues its first <a href="https://www.starbucks.com/responsibility/global-report">Corporate Social Responsibility Report</a>.

Introduces ethical coffee-sourcing guidelines developed in partnership with Conservation International.

Partners with the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) to develop the LEED for Retail program.

Launches <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/press/2020/cafe-practices-starbucks-approach-to-ethically-sourcing-coffee/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">C.A.F.E. (Coffee and Farmer Equity) Practices</a> with Conservation International, with SCS Global Services overseeing the verification system of suppliers.

Opens first <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/press/2018/starbucks-farmer-support-centers/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Farmer Support Center </a>opens in Costa Rica. Since then, eight other centers have opened around the world to support coffee farmers with climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies.

Publicly reports its first inventory of greenhouse gas emissions.

Makes its first renewable energy purchase, equivalent to 5 percent of U.S. stores' electricity consumption. 

Designs and builds its first LEED certified store in Hillsboro, Ore.

Quadruples renewable energy purchases to equal 20 percent and begins buying renewable energy certificates (RECs) in partnership with World Resources Institute’s Green Power Market Development Group. Designated as one of the <a href="https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2016-02/documents/2006awards.pdf">U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Green Power Partner of the Year</a>.

Launches the retail industry’s first hot beverage paper cup with 10 percent post-consumer recycled fiber (PCF).

Announces Shared Planet commitments, including goals to ethically source 100 percent of its coffee, build LEED-certified company-operated stores and cover 100 percent of U.S. store operations with renewable energy. Implements global LED lighting conversion program.

Commits $20 million to a variety of farmer loan funds, providing coffee farmers access to capital to cover expenses during the growing and harvesting cycles and make strategic investments in their farms. 

Partners with Conservation International to launch climate change campaign and five-year global commitment to support farming communities and encourage the protection of their land, water and forests.

Introduces a new polypropylene plastic cup that uses 15 percent less plastic than previous cups and emits 45 percent less greenhouse gas during production.

Hosts first Cup Summit in Seattle, inviting local governments, cup manufacturers, recyclers and stakeholders to find a comprehensive recyclable cup solution.

Opens Farmer Support Center in Kigali, Rwanda.

Unveils new, locally relevant design strategy to reduce environmental impact and incorporate reused and recycled elements. Starbucks becomes one of the first retailers to join USGBC’s LEED Volume Certification pilot program.

<a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2009/starbucks-opens-leed-certified-coffee-roasting-plant/">Opens LEED-certified roasting plant</a> in Sandy Run, S.C.

Hosts second Cup Summit in Boston and announces Paper Recovery Alliance with the Foodservice Packaging Institute.

Opens Farmer Support Center in Mbeya, Tanzania.

Rolls out <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2015/earthsleeve-global-rollout/">cup sleeves</a> made from less paper and more post-consumer content, saving nearly 100,000 trees each year.

Starbucks Mexico opens its <a href="https://www.starbucks.com/coffeehouse/store-design/chalpultepec-reforma">first LEED® certified store</a> and achieves the Silver certification level, making it the first LEED® Silver store in Latin America.

Opens its first <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2013/innovative-new-drive-thrus/">store made from reclaimed end-of-life shipping containers</a>. Starbucks would go on to open more than 45 of these modular stores in the United States, and <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/press/2018/starbucks-opens-first-container-store-in-taiwan/">more around the world</a>.

Opens <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/press/2018/starbucks-farmer-support-centers/">Farmer Support Centers</a> in Manizales, Colombia and Yunnan, China.

Purchases Hacienda Alsacia, its first 240-hectare coffee farm in Costa Rica, to serve as a global agronomy Research and Development facility and working farm. 

Offers a $1 reusable cup in the U.S. and Canada, and a £1 cup in the United Kingdom to help reduce cup waste.

Offers environmentally friendly napkins in stores in Japan made from 70 percent post-consumer recycled milk-carton fiber and 30 percent FSC®-certified paper.

Opens 500th LEED®-certified store, more than any other retailer in the world.

<a href="https://news.starbucks.com/news/recycling-in-one-of-the-worlds-largest-coffee-roasting-plants">York Roasting Plant</a> in York, Penn. achieves 100% zero waste certification.

Joins Conservation International and other industry leaders as a founding partner to launch the <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2015/making-coffee-the-worlds-first-sustainably-sourced-agriculture-product/">Sustainable Coffee Challenge</a>, an effort to make coffee the world’s first sustainable agricultural product.

Launches <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2016/one-bag-for-every-tree-10-million-trees-milestone/">One Tree for Every Bag</a> program, which provides more than 25 million rust-resistant coffee trees to farmers whose farms are affected by coffee rust. &nbsp;&nbsp;

Purchases enough renewable energy to power 100% of its company-operated stores in the U.S., Canada and UK. 

Reaches <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2015/starbucks-ethical-sourcing-program/">99 percent ethically sourced</a> coffee milestone with Conservation International.

Achieves its 25 percent water reduction target through global water conservation measures.

Announces additional commitment of $30 million as part of its <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2015/starbucks-more-than-doubles-global-farmer-loan-commitment/">Global Farmer Fund</a> program, which supports coffee farmers in improving the infrastructure on their farms and replacing older coffee trees with new ones.

<a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2015/coconut-milk-available-in-u-s-starbucks-stores-beginning-february-17/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Introduces coconutmilk,</a> a non-dairy milk alternative.

Completes global rollout of <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2015/earthsleeve-global-rollout/">new cup sleeves</a>, which are made from less paper and more post-consumer fiber.

<a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2016/almondmilk-coming-to-starbucks-stores/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Introduces almondmilk</a>, a non-dairy milk alternative.

Issues its first <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/press/2016/starbucks-issues-the-first-u-s-corporate-sustainability-bond/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Corporate Sustainability Bond</a> in the United States.

Reaches milestone of <a href="https://news.starbucks.com/news/starbucks-opens-1000th-leed-certified-store">1,000 LEED-certified stores</a> in 20 countries, including the historic Starbucks Roastery in Seattle.

Opens Farmers Support Center in Chiapas, Mexico. 

Partners with Feeding America to launch its <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2016/starbucks-food-donation-program/">FoodShare food donation program</a> with a goal to rescue 100 percent of food available to donate from U.S. stores. &nbsp;

Launches <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2015/starbucks-partners-for-sustainability/">Greener Apron program</a> for partners to become certified in environmental sustainability.

Announces commitment to provide <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/press/2017/starbucks-100million-coffee-trees/">100 million climate-resilient coffee trees</a> to farmers by 2025.

Issues its <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/press/2016/starbucks-issues-the-first-u-s-corporate-sustainability-bond/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">second Sustainability Bond</a>, this time in Japan.

<a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/emea/stories/2017/starbucks-uk-to-tackle-food-waste-with-charity-partner-action-against-hunge/">Expands food waste initiatives across EMEA</a>.

Eliminates straws in all Starbucks stores in Korea through strawless lids and paper straw alternatives.

Achieves 98 percent recycling of coffee grounds in Korea.

<a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/emea/stories/2018/starbucks-rolls-out-5p-paper-cup-charge-to-all-stores-across-britain/">Rolls out 5p paper cup charge</a> in Starbucks stores across Britain, with proceeds dedicated to efforts to reduce plastic pollution across the U.K.

Achieves 100 percent zero waste certification at the Starbucks roasting plant in Carson Valley, Nev.

Opens Hacienda Alsacia Visitor Center to welcome visitors from around the world to experience Starbucks Hacienda Alsacia coffee farm, a <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2018/starbucks-farm-research-and-innovation/">hub for coffee research and innovation</a>.

Invests in <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2018/solar-and-wind-power-fuel-starbucks-store/">North Carolina solar farm</a> to power 600 Starbucks stores in North Carolina, Virginia, Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland, West Virginia and Washington, D.C., as well solar farms in <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/press/2019/starbucks-and-cypress-creek-solar-farms-team-up-to-power-360-stores-in-texas/">Texas</a>, providing enough energy for the equivalent of 360 Starbucks stores across the state.

Develops Greener Stores framework in partnership with SCS Global Services and World Wildlife Fund to design, build and operate <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/press/2018/starbucks-announces-global-greener-stores-commitment/">10,000 Greener Stores</a> globally by 2025.

Starbucks Sustainability Timeline - Starbucks Stories

A historical look at Starbucks sustainability efforts since the company began in 1971.

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Starbucks Sustainability Timeline

The journey a coffee bean follows from farm to cup is an arduous one. It usually begins high in the hills of the Coffee Belt, a band that wraps around the Earth’s middle between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn. Bucket by bucket, the beans are hand-picked and processed before trundling down winding roads to cargo ships destined for roasting plants and cafés around the world. 

To get the best beans, buyers from Starbucks have traveled to the source since the first store opened back in 1971. They journeyed to far-flung farms in places in Latin America, Asia and East Africa, taking time to get to know farmers and their communities along the way.&nbsp;&nbsp; 

When Starbucks launched its C.A.F.E. Practices sustainable sourcing program in 2004, the company knew that building on these personal relationships would be critical to the program’s success. It opened its first <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/press/2018/starbucks-farmer-support-centers/">Farmer Support Center</a> that same year in San José, Costa Rica, and hired a team of agronomists to bring farmers into the program.

Carlos Mario Rodriguez, director and global head of coffee research and development for Starbucks, was part of that first Farmer Support Center agronomy team. He drove his pickup truck over countless miles of narrow roads to visit farmers and help them with a range of sustainability issues and ensure a long-term supply of quality coffee. He helped them set up their own test plots, showed them how to space trees correctly and offered suggestions to manage erosion and reduce the use of pesticides.&nbsp; 

William Chacon, owner of the Café Las Peñas farm in Sabanilla, Costa Rica, has been working with Starbucks agronomists for more than 10 years, even when his farm is not selling to Starbucks. 

“There are many problems related to deforestation, and the coffee gets damaged by disease, and so the quality suffers too,” said Chacon. “With Starbucks help, we are producing new varieties of coffee. The quality is good because the leaves and the plants grow healthy.” 

In the Farmer Support Center's first year of operation, 43.5 million pounds of green (unroasted) coffee were purchased from C.A.F.E. Practices-approved suppliers, representing 14.5 percent of total coffee purchases. In the 15 years that followed, purchases under the program continued to grow and Starbucks expanded its global network of farmer support. A satellite location in Guatemala City opened in 2006, followed by Rwanda in 2009, Tanzania in 2011 and Colombia in 2012. Field by field, farm by farm – this new approach to sustainable sourcing was taking root.

In 2012, Starbucks opened its sixth Farmer Support Center, and first in Asia, in Yunnan, China’s Pu’er region. Alan Tong was the first agronomist at the <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2017/yunnan-single-origin-coffee/">China Farmer Support Center</a>, starting with just 25 coffee growers.

Since then, he and his team have trained nearly 10,000 farmers in China in sustainable farming practices and 1,200 farms are now verified through C.A.F.E. Practices. They are also putting resources toward <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/press/2018/starbucks-deepens-its-commitment-in-yunnan-communities/">creating pathways out of poverty in coffee farming communities</a> across the region.

After opening two more Farmer Support Centers in Ethiopia (2014) and Indonesia (2015), Starbucks’ oldest Farmer Support Center also became its newest. In 2016 the San José agronomy center moved from its downtown office building to a farm 15 miles up a mountain road to the foot of the Poàs Volcano. The 600-acre working farm and visitor’s center at <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2018/coffee-sustainability/">Hacienda Alsacia</a> serves as Starbucks global agronomy research and development center.

“I can show [farmers] how we have been doing things,” said Victor Trejos, general manager of Hacienda Alsacia. “How we have been planting, how we fertilize, soil tests … and how they can do the same.” 

The farm includes 14 hectares dedicated to research. It’s a testing ground to push the boundaries of agronomy research to breed trees that are resistant to coffee leaf rust, or roya, which is ravaging coffee crops in Latin America. The team also analyzes soil, fine tunes pruning techniques, and supports farmers in other ways to increase coffee trees’ quality and productivity. Its findings aren’t kept in a company vault; they are shared freely with researchers and farmers everywhere.

Starbucks opened its tenth Farmer Support Center in <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/press/2021/starbucks-opens-farmer-support-center-in-brazil-for-coffee-growing/">Brazil</a> in August 2021.&nbsp;To date, Starbucks has trained&nbsp;more than 200,000 farmers providing free access to education and resources through its Farmer Support Centers. Its aspiration is to&nbsp;<a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2015/making-coffee-the-worlds-first-sustainably-sourced-agriculture-product/">make coffee the world’s first sustainably sourced agricultural product</a>.

But for Rodriguez, the accomplishment is best measured one farm, one farmer at a time.

“To me, as a professional, as a partner, it’s the best part really when you start working with a particular farmer and see that they are improving their living conditions and being able to keep producing coffee as a good business,” he said. “That’s the best. It’s really something that motivates us.” 

Farmer Support Centers help ensure coffee's future, farm by farm - Starbucks Stories

Farmer Support Centers help ensure coffee&#8217;s future, farm by farm

How Starbucks provide farmers across the globe free access to education and resources.

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Farmer Support Centers help ensure coffee’s future, farm by farm

Centered on Sustainability

This page shows data from our 2018 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>.

Our vision is simple: to produce sustainable coffee, served sustainably. For more than two decades, Starbucks has partnered with Conservation International on C.A.F.E. Practices, our ethical coffee sourcing program. We now source 99 percent of our coffee this way,&nbsp;promoting quality, economic transparency and social and environmental impact with a vision to make coffee&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sustaincoffee.org/">the world’s first sustainable agricultural product in the world</a>.

Climate change represents significant immediate and long-term risks to coffee farmers around the world, and we are taking steps to help ensure the supply of high-quality coffee for future generations. Core to ensuring the long-term sustainability of coffee is also ensuring&nbsp;<a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/press/2018/starbucks-commits-20-million-for-emergency-relief-to-farmers/">the economic profitability for farmers</a>. We are investing in innovation to offer farmers new&nbsp;<a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2017/starbucks-hacienda-alsacia/">climate-resilient coffee tree varietals</a> and support coffee-farming communities through our&nbsp;<a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2015/starbucks-more-than-doubles-global-farmer-loan-commitment/">Global Farmer Fund</a> to make sure farmers have access to low-interest financing that will help them reinvest in their farms. We continue to&nbsp;<a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/press/2018/starbucks-farmer-support-centers/">share what we have learned</a> with others through agronomy training for farmers, whether they sell to us or not. We are also supporting women and families in coffee- and tea-growing communities through&nbsp;<a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2019/the-starbucks-foundations-origin-grants-to-empower-women-and-girls/">Starbucks Foundation Origin Grants</a> that are focused on strengthening their leadership skills and&nbsp;income-generating activities to diversify their income.

We’re also working toward a goal of 100 percent ethically sourced tea and cocoa for beverages by 2020. We are investing in sustainability, issuing our&nbsp;<a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/press/2019/starbucks-completes-issuance-of-third-and-largest-sustainability-bond/">third sustainability bond</a> in May 2019 for investors to participate in socially and environmentally focused projects and leveraging&nbsp;<a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2019/knowledge-is-valuable-coffee-journey-going-digital-for-customers-farmers/">new technology</a> to bring real-time digital traceability to our coffee supply chain.

There is perhaps nothing more recognizable for the Starbucks brand than our cup. Yet our cups and packaging remain one of our biggest environmental challenges.&nbsp;We are looking for new ways to promote reusable cups and better manage the lifecycles of disposable ones. We are testing a variety of greener cups that are both recyclable and compostable in&nbsp;select cities through the&nbsp;<a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/press/2019/closed-loop-partners-announces-12-winners-of-the-nextgen-cup-challenge/">NextGen Cup Challenge</a> and are&nbsp;launching a lightweight strawless lid with a hope to&nbsp;<a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2019/say-hello-to-the-lid-that-will-replace-a-billion-straws-a-year/">eliminate 1 billion single-use plastic straws</a> annually.

Over the past decade we have struggled with our goal to significantly increase the use of reusable cups in our stores. We are continuing to test new ideas and approaches to the challenge. In the UK we conducted a trial of a&nbsp;<a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2018/london-stores-cup/">5-pence disposable cup fee and a 25-pence reusable cup incentive</a>, which increased reusable cup usage for hot drinks sold in stores nationwide from 2.2 to 5.8 percent.

We know that designing and building green stores is not only environmentally responsible, it is good business. We already operate more than 1,600&nbsp;<a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2016/starbucks-opens-1000th-leed-certified-store/">LEED certified stores</a> around the world, making us the world’s largest green retailer. We are building on that legacy by developing a new Greener Store framework for&nbsp;<a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/press/2018/starbucks-announces-global-greener-stores-commitment/">10,000 stores globally by 2025</a>, which could save $50 million in utilities costs over the next 10 years.&nbsp;And we’re empowering our partners to help us in that effort by offering sustainability certification through our&nbsp;<a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2015/starbucks-partners-for-sustainability/">Greener Apron</a> program.

Over the past two years, Starbucks has committed to more than $140 million in renewable energy to power our stores, reducing our environmental impact and supporting access to green power. It’s enough to power 100 percent of our more than 9,000 company-operated stores in the United States, and 77 percent of our global operations.&nbsp;

We plan to locally source more than 50 percent of our renewable energy in the U.S by 2020, including from our&nbsp;<a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2018/solar-and-wind-power-fuel-starbucks-store/">new solar farm in North Carolina</a>, which delivers enough clean energy to power the equivalent of the energy consumed by 600 Starbucks stores. And we are partnering with developers to bring new projects online, including a wind farm planned near Olympia, Wash., and a new wind farm in Illinois that will power 360 stores in that state, including the future Chicago Roastery.

Goal: 100% ethically sourced coffee For the fourth year in a row, more than 99% of our coffee was verified as ethically sourced under&nbsp;<a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2017/sustainability-is-at-the-heart-of-starbucks-coffee-sourcing/">C.A.F.E. Practices</a> – that’s nearly 650 million pounds of it. Although we are constantly striving for 100%, it’s that last 1% where some of our most important work happens, bringing on new farmers and cooperatives to help ensure the long-term future of coffee.

Goal: 100% ethically sourced tea by 2020 Our tea is verified as 95% ethically sourced by third-party organizations including the Ethical Tea Partnership and Rainforest Alliance to ensure the tea Starbucks sources is produced with sustainable practices and under safe and humane working conditions.

Goal: Provide 100 million trees to farmers by 2025 Starbucks has donated more than 31 million coffee trees over the past three years (9.4 million in 2018) to farmers in Mexico, Guatemala and El Salvador. These&nbsp;<a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2017/the-next-generation-of-coffee-trees/">climate-resilient trees</a> replace ones that are declining in productivity due to age and disease, such as coffee leaf rust.

Goal: Invest $50 million in farmers loans by 2020 In 2018, loans reached thousands of farmers in 14 countries to strengthen their coffee farms through tree renovation and infrastructure improvements.

Goal: Train 200,000 coffee farmers by 2020 Our expert agronomists have provided free training to 52,240 coffee farmers through our nine&nbsp;<a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/press/2018/starbucks-farmer-support-centers/">farmer support centers</a> in coffee-producing countries around the world in the past two years, including 27,938 in 2018. We will explore new ways to further scale our efforts.

Goal: Develop 100% compostable and reusable cups by 2022 We are currently testing a dozen promising cup technologies developed through the&nbsp;<a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/press/2019/closed-loop-partners-announces-12-winners-of-the-nextgen-cup-challenge/">NextGen Cup Challenge</a> with the goal of creating an entirely recyclable and compostable cup.

Goal: Double the recycled content of our cups by 2022 Our hot cups currently contain 10% post-consumer fiber (PCF) and we are working to double the recycled content.

Goal: Eliminate single-use straws worldwide by 2020 Since we announced our intention to eliminate single use-straws in July 2018, we developed and engineered&nbsp;<a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2019/say-hello-to-the-lid-that-will-replace-a-billion-straws-a-year/">a new strawlesslid</a> that eliminates the need for a plastic straw and reduces the amount of plastic by 9% versus the traditional lid and straw.&nbsp;We have launched this strawless lid as the default for all iced beverages in Seattle and Vancouver, with&nbsp;sevenmore major markets planned for summer 2019.&nbsp;

*Estimated reduction once fully implemented

10+ Major Cities Currently Recycle our Cups

Goal: Double the recyclability of our cups by 2022 Our cups are accepted for recycling in: Amsterdam; Boston; Dallas; Denver; London; Louisville, Ky.; New York City; San Francisco; Seattle; Washington, D.C.; and Vancouver, B.C.

Goal: Double the use of reusable cups by 2022 In 2018, 1.3% of customers in company-operated stores in the U.S., Canada and EMEA received a discount for bringing their own mug or tumbler, saving more than 42 million disposable cups. We are working to find new ways to encourage customer adoption of reusables, and to begin to track for-here beverages in our reporting.

Goal: Build and operate 10,000 greener stores globally by 2025 Starbucks has 1,612 LEED-certified stores in 16 countries, including all 50 U.S. states and Puerto Rico.&nbsp;We are also developing a new open-source framework to ensure that all Starbucks stores are delivering high standards of environmental performance.

This year, we will launch the Greener Store framework in 300 stores and will be verifying that these stores are: •&nbsp; 100% powered by renewable energy •&nbsp; 25% more energy efficient •&nbsp; 30% more water efficient •&nbsp; Recycling and diverting waste •&nbsp; Sourcing responsible materials •&nbsp; Delivering a healthy environment •&nbsp; Empowering partners to be sustainability champions

Goal: Invest in 100% renewable energy to power operations globally by 2020 Starbucks purchases enough renewable energy to power 100% of its more than 9,000 company-operated stores in the U.S., Canada and the UK with clean energy. Worldwide, more than three-quarters of Starbucks operations are powered by renewables.

Goal: Empower 10,000 partners worldwide to be sustainability champions by 2020 More than 7,200 Starbucks partners have enrolled in the <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2015/starbucks-partners-for-sustainability/">Greener Apron</a> sustainability training program through the&nbsp;<a href="http://www.starbucksglobalacademy.com/">Starbucks Global Academy</a> with Arizona State University in the United States, Canada and Britain.

<a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2019/2018-starbucks-global-social-impact-report/">2018 Global Social Impact Report</a>

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