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For years, dissing Starbucks has been a popular pastime among the coffee cognoscenti, but is Starbucks really the Evil Empire? Before you jump to conclusions, there are some things you should probably know.
One of the biggest criticisms of Starbucks is that the coffee giant doesn’t do enough to support the Fair Trade movement, or that the percentage of Fair Trade coffee the chain sells is minuscule. That may have been a legitimate complaint in 2000, but a grassroots effort pressured Starbucks to carry Fair Trade coffee in 100% of their stores. Today, more than 7,500 Starbucks stores carry some Fair Trade coffee. Starbucks has long followed its own CAFÉ Practices to ethically source and import coffee, and has steadily increased the amount of Fair Trade and otherwise ethically sourced coffee it purchases.
While Starbucks only purchases about 8.1% of its coffee from Fair Trade certified sources, that amounted to 44.4 million pounds of coffee, making Starbucks the largest single purchaser of Fair Trade coffee in the world. Those numbers, however, only tell part of the story. For the past decade, Starbucks has worked directly in partnerships with coffee growers around the world to whom it offers a higher price than the Fair Trade floor price and has worked to promote sustainable growing practices and organic farming among the growers it buys from. The company also buys coffees that are certified by other third party certifiers. In all, Starbucks sourced about 93% of its coffee through ethical sources and paid an average price of $2.56 per pound. By contrast, the floor price for Fair Trade coffee in 2012 was $1.60 (which includes a 20 cent premium that goes to the coffee cooperative rather than to the individual farmer). In addition, more than 95% of coffee contracts included a financial transparency clause. Starbucks goal is 100% ethically sourced coffee by 2015.
A second major criticism of Starbucks has been that it exploits employees and won’t allow them to unionize. As with the Fair Trade debate, the reality is far more complex. Starbucks has long offered full-time benefits – and quite generous ones, at that – even to part-time employees. Those benefits include health insurance and stock in the company. However, many baristas point out that the realities of working in a coffee shop – including a dependence on tips and insecure work hours – mean that it can be difficult to make ends meet working for Starbucks. In addition, unions do more than negotiate for better wages – they also represent workers in disputes with management, including unfair firings, and negotiate fair policies for scheduling and discipline.
What it comes down to, in the end, is that Starbucks works to treat its workers well – and has quite a reputation for doing so – but workers have no real representation to negotiate with management over the long term. While Starbucks under the current corporate leadership may treat its workers well, a leadership change could leave workers with no protection. That’s not being evil – just short-sighted.
Far from being the evil corporation driving other coffee shops and cafés out of business, Starbucks corporate policy includes nearly a dozen initiatives to support all of their various communities. Those initiatives include Create Jobs for USA, an initiative that provides capital grants to help support businesses in underserved communities. The grants may get small business loans, microfinance, community center financing or housing project financing. The Create Jobs program is not very different in scope and intent than many of the programs Starbucks operates in the communities where they source their coffee.
In addition, the company launched a Community Store program in 2012, where stores partner with the community in which they are located to invest in the community and provide benefits that the community actually needs. These are just a few of the initiatives and policies that are part of the Starbucks culture. That culture extends to every employee, with incentives for employees to become engaged in community service and bring their own ideas to the company’s attention.
From building greener stores to reducing waste and encouraging recycling, Starbucks takes the environment seriously. The company is on track to make 100% of their cups either reusable or recyclable by 2015, diverting tons of paper waste from landfills. In coffee-growing countries, Starbucks works with farmers to help them mitigate issues arising from the impact of climate change and encourages the use of sustainable farming practices, including shade coffee plantations and organic growing. From small efforts, such as making coffee grounds available to local gardeners to use in compost, to major initiatives, such as contributing to the development of renewable energy and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, Starbucks is a leader in environmental responsibility.
Obviously, no one will be referring to Saint Starbucks anytime soon. The company is in business to make money, after all, and has a responsibility to its corporate shareholders to make as much money as possible. Under the guidance of CEO Howard Schultz, Starbucks is, in many ways, a model for good corporate citizenship, and not the Evil Empire as it is often portrayed.
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Old article below
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We’ve all heard the anti-corporation brigade yelling about Starbucks and how it’s turning the world into a giant corporate generic mess, exploiting farm workers in the third world, driving small cafes out of business, and burning their beans to make them look darker. But Starbucks says they’re a model corporate citizen, donating large amounts of money to the third world, rejuvenating neighborhoods and employing thousands as they pay above market rates.
So who is right? Is Starbucks really evil? You decide.
The negatives:
* The Organic Consumers Association says Starbucks is lagging on using Fair Trade coffee, where the grower of the coffee bean itself is paid a living wage, no matter what the going rate of coffee is. “Despite repeated pledges, Starbucks is still buying coffee and chocolate produced under exploitative labor conditions, and in the case of cocoa plantations in Africa, workers who are actually slaves.” According to Global Exchange, Starbucks buys over 100 million pounds of coffee each year, yet less than 1% is purchased from coffee farmers who are guaranteed a living wage. Source: Scotland on Sunday, May 4, 2003
* Starbucks employees aren’t always happy with their bosses, and that’s why they formed the Starbucks Baristas Union. The union, along with fair trade outfit, Global Exchange, want Starbucks to increase the amount of fair trade coffee they purchase from 1% to 5%. Says the union leaders, “We see our struggles for humane wages and working conditions as united [with the coffee growers [-] No longer will Starbucks be allowed to run roughshod over its baristas or coffee farmers.” Source: Inter Press Service, July 7, 2004
* Starbucks was called to task by environmentalists “for failing to adhere to its Environmental Mission Statement by slipping from industry leader to laggard on Fair Trade, and for adopting a patchwork approach to sustainability through its “Commitment to Origins” line of coffees.” Source: The Green Life
* Though Starbucks makes claims of improving workers conditions in the third world, the company will not allow human rights monitors to verify their claims. Critics say that there is little evidence that any improvement programs have been implemented. Source: Biodemocracy News, March 2001
* Starbucks refuses to guarantee that milk, beverages, chocolate, ice cream, and baked goods sold in the company’s stores are free of genetically-modified ingredients, including recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone (rBGH), a Monsanto-produced cow steroid. The substance is banned in every industrialized nation besides the U.S., because it is known to cause health problems in dairy cows, and is “associated with a higher risk of cancer in humans.” Source: Biodemocracy News
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Anonymous says
people are starving, do you really think that they havent thought about growing other crops? are you implying that these extremely poor people are only in that situation through their stupidity? Starbucks is making millions and refuses to pay higher wages. Do you prefer that people get paid terrible wages so you can pay one dollar less at the local coffee shop?
Sarahicano says
Why hate a company that makes millions and millions of people happy everyday? For all you nay sayers out there, I encourage you to talk to your local starbucks store manager over a french press of Cafe Estima (our fair trade coffee), do some legitimate research, and read “Pour your Heart Into It”. Clearly Starbucks and Howard Schultz is how this economy will be able to improve itself. Hugs and Mugs!!!!
-Sarah (Quad grande americano w/ cinnamon and nutmeg on top)
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scizen says
eyealter,
Look anybody can spout off cynical tirades, but cynicism isn’t going to help anybody, including the cynic. Fair Trade coffee (or other products) isn’t perfect, but it really does help some very poor people. I do know some of them. I used to live with them when I spent a whole year of my life working for $0 in community development among Mexican coffee farmers. Now, please understand that FT doesn’t mean more expensive coffee. It just tries to cut out profiteering middle men and pay more of the going market price directly to the farmer. That’s the goal. What is the harm done? WHy the cynicism? Sure, exploitation will continue, but should we therefore stop trying to reduce it? Should we stop trying to reduce corruption too?
eyealter, for your own sake, try not to be so cynical.
eyealter says
I am going to quit my job, sell my possessions and donate it to the $1 a day worker who is being exploited by the $4 day worker who is being exploited by the $5 cup of coffee drinker who is paying the taxes to help the people who have nothing. Wait that is me now. All trades are fair by definition the rest we call slavery. Then again, someone sitting behind a computer drinking “fair trade” coffee really gives a crap about fair or trade. Given the chance or skill he/she would be as greed driven as the rest. The rest is fear
Jship says
If coffee is grown in a naturalized environment then it’s not likely that farmers can simply switch crops, like soy to corn, when a surplus of coffee hits the market. So, argument #2 is simply a bust except for the big farms stripped of trees. Fair Trade is one answer to equity. The bigger truth is that quality coffee is becoming more expensive through demand auctions, like the Cup of Excellence auctions in many coffee regions or the higher price paid for high-quality organic. This is the coffee you get at a good specialty coffee shop. What we read generally about low commodity coffee prices is the C price in New York (the middle of five grades). That stuff has enough imperfect (nasty bitter!) that it would make you spit if you are used to true specialty coffee. If you buy at a gas station or grocery store old brands, then this is what you’re covering up with that non-dairy French vanilla creamer and two or three packs of sugar.
Scizen says
I don’t know if I was referring to ‘me’ or you, but Whoever was poking fun of you (Barista) for being a j.p. loving cycopath (psychopath I presume) who never cleans her room and is gay. As for sociopaths having more fun that psychopaths, what is the difference really. Both are nuts.
Anyway, I’ve been researching FT more, and I find it an revolutionary way for us to make a difference among the ‘dirt poor’ some of whom are my friends. I have seen dirt poor coffee farmers in the highest most remote mountains of Mexico feed me one of their last chickens and honor me just for walking to their village. Its humbling. They get nothing for their work and nobody gives a damn. FT may not be perfect, but if it gets hyper consumers who pay $4 for a latte to pass on a nickle to Juan Valdez who makes $2 a day, then I’m all about it. The usual market corrections of free enterprise capitalism (which I’m for) just doesn’t work because of numerous factors. See Pendergast’s work on coffee. FT gives socially minded people a chance to pitch a nickle in Juan’s tip jar. If your are a Barista, and you love coffee, please get on the bandwagon and ask for FT coffee, because without all the Juan’s we won’t have good coffee. Happy farmers will grow better cherry. Better cherry will make better crema in your espresso. FT-Everybody wins. Think about it.
barista says
Scizen, I’m all for freedom of choice. I respect your decision to buy coffee elsewhere, especially if you’re buying Fair Trade. :)
‘Me’, I hope that wasn’t me you were referring to as a psychopath. Sociopaths have way more fun…..
Scizen says
Fair Trade certification that costs $30K isn’t very fair. But that fact alone won’t make me avoid FT coffee. Organic? I don’t care. Most coffee is organic, just not certified. I agree with Barista that SB isn’t evil. The whole question is wrong. But SB is not one of my favorites and I only go to SB when a friend is going there or if I can’t get coffee anywhere else. Given a choice I wouldn’t go there (just like McDonald’s). I can’t remember the last time I went to SB and I’m a coffee geek extraordinaire. As for Barista being a Cycopath, anybody who’d post something like that is probably running the same risk.
Me says
I’ve always hated coffe so of course im going to say starbucks is EVIL! though, my friend doesn’t think so because she is a J.p. loving Cycopath who never cleans her room and is gay!
barista says
Wow! What a biased article. I was assuming that where there was a subheading “negatives” there would also be one for “positives”. You ask people to make a decision as to whether Starbucks are evil yet you are only giving one side of the story.
I work for Starbucks. I have done for 2 1/2 years, it’s not what I went to university for, neither of my degrees are in coffee/customer service, but as far as crap retail jobs go Starbucks is pretty decent. I have always been a proponent of environmentally friendly, fair trade products and when I first got hired at Starbucks I wasn’t sure how I was going to be able to work there when I’d heard so many negative things about the company but I had to pay rent so I figured it would do in the short-term. I was surprised by what I found out. Starbucks is nowhere near the evil corporation that it’s made out to be. It was the first company in North America to offer part-time workers full benefits. They work closely with CARE International. After Hurricane Katrina, Starbucks bought a hotel for all its partners and their families to live in until they could move back to their own homes and guaranteed their jobs would be there for them. How many other large companies did that?
One of the reasons that most of Starbucks’ Coffees aren’t certified Fair Trade or Organic is that the farmers have to pay around $30,000 for the certification. As most of these farms are small, family-run operations they cannot afford to.
I realise that I will get dismissed as having been brain-washed by corporate propaganda but I am capable of thinking for myself and while I certainly don’t agree with some of the things Starbucks does, and I believe we’re turning into the McDonalds of coffee, I don’t think it deserves the reputation of ‘evil’.
scizen says
drarkham5:
It isn’t that simple. Read Uncommon Grounds by Pendergast and get a scholarly look at the complexities of coffee. I have lived in a coffee producing region and can tell you first hand that the little campesino lives on the edge of existence in absolute dirt poor conditions. They work very hard. It is no exageration that a person pays twice as much for a latte than what one of these coffee farmers makes in a day of work. It isn’t a simple market. Fair Trade makes eminent sense and it really doesn’t cost that much. C’mon, we are talking about maybe a nickle per cup to see that these coffee sweatshop workers get enough earnings to buy FOOD for subsistence. If you need more justification, just go and see for yourself. I’ll show you where to go. Don’t be greedy. Starbucks is greedy; evil? I for one will be buying Fair Trade coffee because it is such a small concession that will help lots of people.
scrink says
First of all, the name of a company is merely a name and to subject it to the world “evil” is a bit much. Secondly, it is up to you if you wish to buy coffee from Starbucks. No one is forcing you. So wouldn’t it be the exchange of money from consumer to cashier for this overpriced coffee..that is truly evil?
beatnik says
That is the sad fact now frequently coffee farmers also have to farm cocoa and bananas sometimes in the same field due to the poverty induced by N.A.F.T.A. and C.A.F.T.A.. The reason Starbucks is “evil” is simply because they use this to supply their large chains that in fact do put coffee shops out of business you can find up to 20 Starbucks coffee shops in one city where their might be one small business owned coffee shop. Not many people noticed that after especially C.A.F.T.A. is when Starbucks boomed. In America people are vastly uneducated in these matters and care more about themselves and convenience. This is one of the reasons why we have “fast food” and other sorts of fast service bad product business thriving within the capitalist state of the USA. If people cared Which most Americans don’t because they are so far removed from this kind of poverty, which IMO will happen here if things start going the way they are. Personally I only purchase Fair trade Coffee and brew it myself its not hard and if you shop at certain stores like “trader joes” on the west coast and other such stores you can find plenty of varieties of organic fair trade coffee and teas. The sad thing is people think they will have to pay more for fair trade coffee but if the fat cats cut their profit margins to what they should be like some stores do the price of fair trade coffee would be the same. Just think about the man who grows the coffee you drink in your cosy easy chair each morning when he is working 7 days a week just to put a roof over his head and eat once a day. You can be a citizen of the USA and do what effects you and support things like C.A.F.T.A. and N.A.F.T.A. or you can be a citizen of the earth and think wisely about your purchases. Just my two cents so don’t anyone take this personal, just think.
drarkham5 says
Let’s talk about “Fair Trade” coffee for a moment, and this so-called “Coffee Crisis” detailed in another article on this site. Generally, when we speak of a crisis, we are referring to a shortage of the commodity in question, rather than a surplus. If farmers in third world nations cannot make a living wage growing coffee, then they should grow something else. This is how the market works. People engage in activities that make them money. If the money dries up, that labor is put to more productive use in other industries. There’s nothing fair about “Fair Trade” coffee. If the true market price of coffee is fifty cents a pound, why should Starbucks pay (and in reality, you wind up paying more at the counter) more? If the market price of gasoline was too low, would you pay more?
Anonymous says
thats wack