My Starbucks Story (and 4 things that need fixing)
August 9th, 2007 • Australia, Melbourne
After work today I stopped by Starbucks (on Swanston St) to see how Fairtrade was doing. I asked the guy behind the counter if they served any Fairtrade coffee and was immediately told that “all their coffee was Fairtrade”. Interesting…I took him at his word and, at his recommendation, ordered a “Caramel Latte” (not a drink I would recommend). While waiting for my latte I read through some of their pamphlets and came across one about Fairtrade.
Surprise, surprise, not all of the Starbuck’s coffee is Fairtrade. Only two blends are – Estima and Timor Lorosae – and those, according to the pamphlet, are only available on request via the press method of coffee making. I then went back to the Baristas and asked them what the deal was? The person I first talked to was corrected by a senior staff member, and I was told that I could only get Fairtrade in whole bean form, or on the rare occasion that it is the blend of the month. So I’m not quite sure what’s going on, next time I’ll try ordering a pressed Fairtrade coffee and see how it goes.
I have e-mailed Starbucks, and filled in their in-store feedback form, but am yet to hear back from them. In the meantime I present Four Ways Starbucks Misses the Mark on Fairtrade:
- Education – while the pamphlet and one staff member knew what the deal was with Fairtrade, it is clear that their staff members need to be made more aware of their own business practices. Technically Starbucks may have even been in breach the Trade Practices Act by misleading me as to the content of my coffee cup. Also, they should have known that I can request a pressed Fairtrade coffee, and offered it to me when I mentioned I wanted some Fairtrade goodness.
- Advertising – for a company that promotes itself as in tune with social responsibility and as a community place and all that, a few pamphlets tucked away near the sugar packets really doesn’t cut it in terms of letting people know that Fairtrade is an option. Starbucks should at least have Fairtrade on the menu.
- Accreditation – the Starbucks pamphlet about their purchasing practices was very convincing, and I do want to believe they are doing the right thing (anyone got any info on how accurate the claims are?), but for me to believe I’m gonna need someone more independent than the Starbucks Marketing Team telling me. Starbucks needs to work with FLO or another independent organisation to demonstrate that their coffee meets the tests and is really fair.
- Commitment – Starbucks needs to show some real commitment to the cause and convince us that this isn’t just a token issue. Doing the above will help, as would providing Fairtrade options for all their coffee products or show how they are working to make their other suppliers fair – and I mean demonstrable evidence, maybe even a timeline of future goals to hold them accountable to (some Fairtrade choc items would help too).
Even with the above, however, Starbucks getting better (as pressure amounts). They have made attempts to become more responsible for their coffee purchasing, and some of the roadblocks they are dealing with seem valid – for example the restriction of Fairtrade licencing to co-ops. It also has to be remembered that Starbucks buys massive amounts of Fairtrade coffee, 16% of worldwide production according to their pamphlets, so they are definitely involved in the system – even if this amount pales compared to the rest of their coffee supplies.
As always consumer demand is where it is at. If more people request Fairtrade I’m sure they’d respond accordingly, is Australia ready for a Starbucks Challenge? I’d be more then willing to donate space/domain name/time if some more people come on board. Let me know and maybe we get something happening.
UPDATE: Just got an email from Starbucks. So the real deal is that you can get a Fairtrade coffee pressed at any Starbucks store just by asking. It should cost $5.95 or $8.95 depending on size. They also offered me a $10 Starbucks gift voucher for my trouble. So once that comes in I’ll be trying out some city Starbucks to see how hard it is go get a Fairtrade coffee. If you have any Starbucks Fairtrade experiences let us know in the comments.
Popularity: 1% [?]
Related posts:
5 Responses (Add Your Comment)
-
Jess Rae August 12, 2007at 6:23 pm
-
Hey Jess,
Good to hear Lygon is doing the right thing. Which Swanston Street store were you at? I was at the one near Town Hall – hopefully next time I go there they’ll be more forthcoming.
We’ll see if anyone else has more to report. Next up I’ll make a list of Aussie/Victorian Starbucks so we can start rating their responses.
-
Hey there Devon. Glad to see you’re doing some critical thinking about this stuff. I’m trying to figure some of it out myself, so here’s my 2 cent . . .
Several folks in the coffee industry have explained to me that the Fair Trade brand or logo is an officially recognized standard but that just because a coffee doesn’t come with the label “Fair Trade” doesn’t necessarily mean that farmers were mistreated or given an unfair price for their product.
I walked into a coffee shop in Minneapolis (Dunn Bros.) where they had 1 or 2 FairTrade coffees. But when I asked why their FairTrade selection was so limited, a manager was able to demonstrate to me how they treat all of their coffee growers with fairness and justice, but they only went through the official “FairTrade” channel for consumer demand. He also mentioned that bypassing the FairTrade organisation allowed them to put more healthy pressure on their coffee growers for quality purposes.
Anyway, sorry to crowd your comment space. As I said, this is something I’m wrestling with as well. I think the garment industry is another big one that desperately needs further reforming.
-
Thanks for your input Brandon.
It can be quite difficult to work out the best choices. Especially when there are some very ethical retailers out there who don’t use fairtrade, and in fact go beyond fairtrade requirements. However, big purchasers like Starbucks, while I understand it is difficult, need some third party accreditation for me to believe them – as persuading as their pamphlets are.
Ultimately it’s about trust, while I’m optimistic and hope that Starbucks generally treats farmers well, I’m not sure I can trust them yet. Hopefully I’ll be proved wrong one day.Clothes and sweatshops definitely needs some fairtrade action. While there have been smaller scale, local efforts and labelling done (for example in Australia we have NOSWEAT and FAIRWEAR) there is nothing international in scope really, and you often have to take the word of the company that they are doing the right thing.
-
Bianca Kazzarini October 29, 2007at 1:03 pm
It is true that not all of starbucks coffeee is fair trade but it is fairly traded…Cash flow is a critical issue for small-scale coffee farms and can lead to farmers being forced to sell their crops prior to harvest at low prices. Starbucks has launched several initiatives that help to provide farmers access to credit at favorable rates….Starbucks total commitment is $1 million to be repaid at 2% interest for three years (Feb. 2004-2007). Approximately 10,000 small-scale Fair Trade farmers from Costa Rica, Mexico and Nicaragua are participating in the program…Verde Ventures Fund is managed by Conservation International. Starbucks total commitment is $2.5 million to be repaid at 3% interest for seven years (Dec. 2003–2010). This program assists small-scale farmers participating in CI’s Conservation™ program sites and applicants to C.A.F.E Practices in Latin America and Asia..many starbucks partners should no about this it is also free to have you coffee beans from starbucks ground and on request you may have it in a french press depending on what store you are in my personal favorite is Starbucks Galleria 385 Bourke St the workers are friendly and most of them are wearing a black apron which means they are coffee masters so if you have any questions about coffeee beans or starbucks in general they are the people to ask… i hope i have been of some assistance
Hey Dev,
Thought I’d come check out your blog, good stuff!
I have had a few Starbucks experiences..
The Lygon st store is always really good at offering Fairtrade even when it is not the coffee of the week, and the staff seems to be on the ball.
In contrast, at the Swanston st store, I was told that I could only get Fairtrade when it was the coffee of the week. I told them that Lygon st would do it for me on request, however they said they couldn’t since they were a much bigger and busier store.
I’d definitely be up for some Starbucks action – if smaller cafes can manage to serve Fairtrade all the time, surely Starbucks can!!