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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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j says
I think this conversation is stupid!!! Drink coffee where you want…
Starbucks Employee says
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
Hector says
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,
George B says
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.
SBhunter9 says
Could barista that had the 6th comment please tell me the source of your fair trade information?
javajive says
well im a fan of s’buks,, i 100% support fair trade and organic.
Wickett says
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.
Dan says
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.
Wickett says
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.
Max says
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.
Wickett says
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.
G.T. says
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.
Wickett says
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.
G.T. says
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.
Wickett says
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.