I have run this site since 2006, which means I have watched people call Starbucks the Evil Empire for almost twenty years. The charge never really goes away. It just changes costume. One year it is about Fair Trade, the next it is union-busting, then it is a red cup, then it is the mom-and-pop shop that closed down the block. Readers of the old version of this article called me out, fairly, for stacking up the accusations and then saying “you decide” without showing the other side. So this time let me actually do it: both columns, current numbers, and you can make the call.
First the honest baseline. Starbucks is a roughly 40,000-store multinational that exists to make money for its shareholders. It is not a charity and has never claimed to be. But “evil” is a lazy word for a company this size, and almost every specific accusation turns out to be more complicated than the bumper sticker. Here are the big ones, one at a time.
“Starbucks exploits coffee farmers”
This is the oldest charge, and twenty years ago it had real teeth. Back in 2003, critics could fairly say almost none of Starbucks’ coffee was independently certified. That number is long dead. Today Starbucks buys roughly 3 percent of all the coffee on earth, from more than 400,000 farmers across 30-plus countries, and it runs the purchasing through its own standard called C.A.F.E. Practices (Coffee and Farmer Equity), a sourcing program it built with Conservation International back in 2004. Starbucks says the large majority of its coffee now qualifies as ethically sourced under that program, which covers price transparency, working conditions, and environmental rules, verified by third-party auditors.
On price, Starbucks generally pays above the commodity market rate for its coffee, and for a stretch it paid above even the Fair Trade floor price for a lot of what it bought. That matters, because the commodity price is the thing that can leave a farmer earning pennies a pound when the market crashes. One of the readers here once made a sharp point that gets lost in these debates: independent Fair Trade certification can cost a small cooperative tens of thousands of dollars to obtain, which is real money for a grower scraping by, so the absence of a certification logo does not automatically mean a farmer got cheated. The system is messier than the label.
Here is the fair counterpoint. C.A.F.E. Practices is Starbucks’ own standard, not the independent Fair Trade certification, and “ethically sourced” is a roomy phrase a company gets to define for itself. The slice that is independently Fair Trade certified is still a minority of what they buy, and an auditor Starbucks hires is not the same as an outside watchdog Starbucks cannot fire. Worth remembering, though, that Fair Trade is a certification and pricing model, not a quality grade or a guarantee of the best coffee in the bag, something I got into more in the guide to where coffee actually comes from. The honest read: Starbucks went from genuine laggard to one of the bigger ethical-sourcing buyers in the business, while still grading much of its own homework.
“Starbucks mistreats workers and busts unions”
This is where the real fight is now, and it is the part of the old article that aged the worst, because it flatly said workers “have no real representation.” That is no longer true.
Start with the good. Starbucks has long offered health insurance to part-timers working 20 hours or more, company stock through its Bean Stock program, and full tuition for an online degree through Arizona State. For food-service and retail work, that benefits package is genuinely better than most of the competition. Nobody serious disputes that.
Then came Buffalo. In late 2021 a single store voted to unionize, and it set off the largest labor organizing wave in modern American retail. By 2025 the union, Starbucks Workers United, represented around 600 stores and more than 12,000 baristas. And here is the sticking point: years in, there is still no first contract. The union has filed a stack of labor complaints, baristas have staged repeated walkouts, including strikes in 2025 over scheduling and a new dress code, and CEO Brian Niccol, who took over in September 2024, has brought in a mediator without closing a deal. So the modern version of this charge is not “they ban unions.” It is “they organized, and the company has dragged its feet at the bargaining table.” That one is a live, legitimate argument, and it is the strongest case the critics have.
“Starbucks kills local coffee shops”
Partly true, partly backwards. Starbucks absolutely clusters stores and absolutely competes with the cafe down the street. But a lot of the people who fled mom-and-pop shops, including plenty in the comments here over the years, did it because the local drip was weak or burnt, not because Starbucks bullied anyone. And there is a real argument that Starbucks grew the entire specialty-coffee market in the first place, training a generation of Americans to pay three dollars for espresso, which is the market today’s independent third-wave roasters now thrive inside. Verdict: mixed, and a lot more mixed than “corporate Goliath crushes village.”
“The coffee tastes burnt”
I will give the critics this one, mostly. “Charbucks” is not just a joke. Starbucks roasts dark as a house style, and to keep 40,000 stores tasting the same on any given Tuesday, you roast past the point where delicate origin flavors survive. That is a deliberate engineering choice, not a crime, and some people genuinely love that bold, smoky cup. But if you have ever thought their drip tastes scorched compared to a lighter third-wave roaster, you are not imagining it. That is the trade-off baked into running the largest coffee chain on the planet.
“It is all greenwashing”
Starbucks talks a big environmental game and has a spotty record of hitting its own targets. The honest example: it pledged years ago to make its cups fully recyclable or reusable by 2015 and badly missed it. The current commitments are a set of 2030 goals, to cut carbon, water, and landfill waste in half and make all its packaging reusable, recyclable, or compostable. As of its 2024 update it was about 27 percent of the way there, and reusable cups were still only around 2 percent of orders. So: real targets, slow progress, and a fair amount of distance between the marketing and the dumpster. Call it a work in progress and you are being generous but not wrong.
Why does everyone pick on Starbucks specifically?
A reader once asked the question that should bother all of us: why the constant focus on Starbucks, when nobody marches on Folgers? It is a genuinely good point. Maxwell House, Folgers, and the giant Nestle and JDE brands move enormous volumes of cheap commodity coffee with a fraction of the public scrutiny, and most of it carries no ethical-sourcing program worth the name. Starbucks gets singled out for two reasons, and only one of them is fair. The fair reason is that Starbucks invited the spotlight by branding itself as the conscientious coffee company, so people hold it to the standard it advertised. The unfair reason is simpler: it is the biggest and most visible, and the biggest target is always the easiest to throw rocks at. If your real concern is exploited farm labor, the worst offenders are mostly companies you have never thought to boycott.
So, is Starbucks evil?
No. It is also not a saint, and anybody selling you either of those answers is selling you something. It is a corporation that does a few things genuinely well, like the scale of its ethical sourcing and its worker benefits, and a few things that earn every bit of the criticism, like stalling on a union contract and missing its own green deadlines. The reader who told me the old version only showed one side was right, so here are both. Drink your coffee wherever you want, mom-and-pop or mermaid logo. Just don’t pretend a company with 40,000 stores fits under a one-word verdict.
Last reviewed June 2026. Reflects Brian Niccol as CEO, current Starbucks Workers United figures, C.A.F.E. Practices sourcing, and Starbucks’ 2030 sustainability targets.
Discussion 76
I am very saddened i only buy fair trade coffee at home which is the best i have ever tasted! I do visit starbucks i guess i just figured because they were so big they would care about environmental and econmical issues. It seems as if they don’t and i will not be going there anymore. I am just one person so it will probably not do much but i feel guilty and self centered to indulge when there are people across the world not getting paid fairly and rainforests being destroyed for easy coffee farming.
I think this conversation is stupid!!! Drink coffee where you want…
Hello,
I think before posting articles based on very biased research it is important to really take note of the requirements of “Fair Trade”. First off, generally speaking every single coffee sold in starbucks is grown from the moral standpoint of Fair Trade. The term Fair Trade is actually used of those organizations that, when large enough, can afford the certification and also is required all farms input documentation. Starbucks being the company that it is, is quite large. We as a company buy mostly from fair trade farmers but we also support smaller farms: AKA there are some farmers that “are not large enough” accord to FLO-CERT for their farms to fit Fair Trade certification standards: In other words Fair Trade Cert. does not help the small farmers but Starbucks does by paying them the same wages as Fair Trade farmers. That is why it is important for most authors to thoroughly research their topic before posting articles that blast companies that are actually doing more good for the community than FLO-CERT is. AKA Starbucks>Fairtrade
I was a small coffee grower from Mexico, now living in USA
Starbucks does not help small growers in 1990s the coffee was one peso per kilo it’s like 10 us cents, I saw some article in that date is when Starbucks started growing impressively in 2000 I left my land there was nothing to do with 1 peso per kilo,
This has got to be illegal:
I work for a dental office and I have to let people know about this.
Premera Starbucks Dental Plan 1037844:
Allows dental implants if all the following circumstances are true:
1) The dental implant would replace a tooth which was missing at birth (congenitally missing tooth exception)
2) The patient was under the age of 21 (age-limitation)
3) The patient was covered under the plan at the time the extraction tooth place (missing tooth clause)
In other words there is no possible way that someone could get an implant covered under starbucks’ plan.
Also, it would be risky to place an implant in a male, or female perhaps (I’m no dentist), age 20 or younger because of the latent jaw growth.
Just a thought: Maybe they ought to tell their members there is no implant coverage instead of making exceptions which would make it impossible for coverage.
This is insanity.
Could barista that had the 6th comment please tell me the source of your fair trade information?
well im a fan of s’buks,, i 100% support fair trade and organic.
Interesting to talk to you sir. You intrigue me. I have a deep respect for Italy, even though I have no blood ties to it at all.
I agree, that Italian coffees are the absolute best. You are right about the Caffe Macchiato. That is how it’s supposed to be prepared. Either a very small amount of frothed milk, or, a teaspoon of steamed milk. I’ve never had one at Starbucks, so I can’t say.
Coffee is a lot personal taste, obviously. I’m all for someone coming to me and saying, “I don’t personally like Starbucks.” For someone to come to me however, and say that Starbucks is junk, is an extreme generalization. Some people DO like Starbucks, and I happen to be one of them. I just like their roasts. I’ve never had one I didn’t like actually.
Back to Italy for a second. How do you make a frappe over there? I’ve been trying hard, but I can’t seem to get it down.
When I was in high school i only went to starbucks to get frappucino’s because it was the drink that least resembled coffee. Their normal coffee is terrible. I think they do purchase high quality beans, but they ruin them by how they are roasted. If I wanted real coffee I would just make it at home.
To Wickett, I love dark and bold coffee but I just can’t drink Starbucks. I’ve also been living in Italy for the past 6 years and drink espresso all the time. A real espresso is much bolder than any starbucks drink. If it’s done well you don’t even need to add sugar. Also they only cost 80 cents and Rome is expensive.
Now when I go home I can’t even enter a Starbucks, it’s not just because of the coffee it’s the fact that they pretend to make Italian coffee, and use Italian names, but none of their drinks even come close to what it supposed to be.
I work in a bar in Rome that serves a lot of tourists. I don’t even know what a Starbucks macchiato is, but a cafe macchiato in Italy is an espresso with a little bit of frothed milk. Every time I make one for an American I get weird looks so I’m guessing Starbucks makes a completely different thing.
I wouldn’t care so much but there are a few American style restaurants here that actually serve american food. So I don’t understand why Starbucks has to butcher Italian coffee. At least just make up your own names. Don’t take something that works from someone else if you can’t properly reproduce it.
Also Italy is still one of the few countries in Europe that doesn’t have Starbucks. You’d think with all that authentic Italian coffee we’d be the first.
Interesting points, and I agree. Starbucks offers you quality coffee, if darker and bolder coffee is what you like. I happen to very much.
On a side note, I would love to work at a Starbucks, but I don’t have one near me unfortunately.
Here’s a point of view: If Sbux doesn’t suit your taste don’t go inside and don’t lambaste those who do.
I managed a Sbux for some years. The reason I worked there originally was b/c I was a fan. I learned a ton about coffee and now have a much greater appreaciation for the coffee trade. I left because @ sbux I was actually in the retail business, not the coffee business. I met coffee growers and brokers b/c of my position and still believe they do a good job of getting a quality product to the market as a whole. Imho they are way too big to keep making leaps and bounds ahead as far as quality and service or even righting many of the wrongs left in their wake, but…we cannot have things both ways. either they will be saturating every market so we can get a caffine fix at our leisure or they could have remained small and not become the 800Lb gorilla.
The other coffee you mentioned,#65, is not available to the majority of markets in the US and unless you are suggesting we all just make our coffee @ home and stay out of the retail stores the point is moot. I will skip my coffe when I’m out if I cannot get to a place w/ a good brew. I used to have people wait 10-15 minutes to talk to me so they could tell me how good the coffee was. It’s not everybody’s taste and not every barista in every store prepares it correcty every time but the coffee itself is not a bad product. (btw-Anytime you get a cup you don’t like just give it back and ask for a fresh cup. Policy/expectation is to brew a french press of ANY blend requested by a customer at ANY time AND for every employee to be invested in you having a drink that YOU think is PERFECT.) I am not a fan of the business model (more stores, more money, bigger business) and I do like other coffees but I still go to Sbux a number of times per month. It is very dark and they didn’t invent that style. We asked internally for a lighter roast for years and the response is that it isn’t Sbux to roast light. Oh well I go somewhere else for that.
If good coffee is the goal and you happen to be an expert then educate others. It’s the second most widely traded comodity we all have a lot to learn.
#64 is right about some small shops. We had one in my town and not only was the coffee bad the service was marginal at best. They closed and many people blamed Sbux opening. No, they did bad business. Many (even most) of the small shops are in business b/c sbux paved the way. And sbux keeping coffee on the American mind only helps the coffee business as a whole. Just look at this thread it’s been going for over three years and the conversation is still passionate!! We all love coffee and if we are honest for the vast majority of us we trace the cultivation of that love if even indirectly to Sbux in some way.
I’m quite serious actually. I buy their blends at Wal-Mart and brew them myself. They’re delicious, and many others think so. That does not in any way mean that you have to like it as well, but don’t throw down on Starbucks just because it’s everywhere. It’s only everywhere because a lot of people like it.
You’re not serious, right, or are you a Starbucks shill? Starbucks serves horrible coffee. Compare it to something good like Intelligentsia or Terroir, or decent like Blue Bottle or Ritual.
Starbucks sells horrible coffee? Wow, your personal opinion obviously, but you are seriously out voted. I have drank many of their blends, and they’re all delicious. It’s quality coffee.
I too appreciate the local coffee shop, however, almost all of the coffee shops I’ve been in were awful. I felt like I was in someone’s basement, and the drinks were a 10:1 ration of sugar and milk, with maybe half a teaspoon of bad coffee thrown in.
To Wickett, they sell absolutely horrible coffee and in many neighborhoods they are the only option now which means I can’t get good coffee away from home a lot of the time. Whether this is because of the sheep mentality of my fellow Americans or because of a massive Starbucks marketing machine is insignificant, I think they’re evil because I have very little choice these days.
I can’t help but notice, that no positives were given at all in Starbucks’ favor. Big corporation has it obvious issues, but it’s a trend to always bad mouth the leader of a certain area. Starbucks has become extremely popular, and why shouldn’t it? They serve good quality coffees, at a fair price. I thoroughly enjoy it, and it has certainly helped me grow fond of coffees and the cultural behind them. I also don’t see how any could have so much hate for Starbucks, when McDonalds serves up cheap junk coffee every day. That’s the true big corporation filth if you ask me.
Susan: yes, I think certain blends of theirs taste burnt, just like all of Dunkin’s. Star$ espresso is better than Barnies, in my opinion though. (Don’t hate me, my stomach is really choosy-Italian only :))
Funny how Starbucks started as a small business. But like people in real life, they got too big for their britches and need to downsize a little bit.
Is there anyone else who thinks SB coffee tastes burnt?
^not out, defintiley not out! xD I don’t like to make people mad.
I’m a new employee… I’ve worked there for about 3 weeks, and I love it. Maybe it’s because we’re inside of a Safeway or in a small town, but I just love working there… I see the same people whenever I work, have conversations with my customers that come back and suggest things. I even get free reign on drinks. It’s fun to put whatever you want into a blender, give it a name and sample it to your customers, although my boss doesn’t mind, in fact she likes it, maybe bigger Starbucks wouldn’t, but hey… I’m out to make anyone pissed about fair trade and organic coffee or whatever, that’s not what it’s about when I work. I love working there because I make people happy, it’s great. :)
you never left any positives therefore this is a pursuasive article. If you are going to say “you decide” you should really show us both sides.
I think that starbucks is canceling out many small businesses. I cant tell you if it is good or bad but i think that they should stay out of small towns and stick to bigger cities with more people to have to the money to go and shop there. :)
If you want to know just how evil Starbucks really is…check out what I found in my freakin can of Starbucks… Feel free to repost this… please repost this link… Thanks… Jeff
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=385pohwjSf8
All we have for coffee is a local 7-11, Sheetz, Shoney’s and McDonald’s. So what, coffee is coffee so long as someone remembers to turn off the pot before the joint burns down (The local courthouse caught on fire that way. We also burn down the local surveyors joint. Oops, didn’t mean to blurt that out;)
By the way missy, the fathers of heavy metal are Black Sabbath and Dick Dale. Yeesh. Youngins. Always think they started it.
As a consumer I will say…where I live in Southern California I find no “ma and pa shops” that sell coffee that tastes as good as starbucks!! Maybe if this were NY that would be a different story. I’m not going to buy from a little coffee shop somewhere just to help them stay afloat, make better coffee and I will most certainly buy it!! The service is unbeatable and the taste is exquisite.