Social Impact

The planet, our communities, and coffee: our commitment

A person stands amidst a vast green coffee farm, tending to the plants.

Planet

Our vision for the future is to become resource positive, giving back more than we take from the planet. Over the years, we have worked with industry experts and advocates to collectively find ways to protect our planet. It shows up in our stores, our communities, and our commitment to global human rights, and ethical and responsible coffee sourcing.

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Starbucks sustainability journey has been driven by bold aspirations and a comprehensive approach. Our environmental promise is to give more than we take from the planet’s resources. Our approach is to embed sustainability in every function and business unit around the world, so it becomes the way we run our business.
Michael Kobori, Chief Sustainability Officer

For the planet

Here are some key actions we’re taking:

Towards our goal of waste reduction, customers can order with their own clean, personal cup at all company-operated stores in the U.S. and Canada
6,000 Greener Stores around the world, each with different sustainable features like energy efficiency, water stewardship, and waste diversion
60 EV chargers at Starbucks stores on a route from Seattle to Denver
100% renewable energy coverage for US stores, since 2015
30% post-consumer fiber single-use hot cups launch in U.S and Canada along with lightweighted cold cups that use 10-20% less plastic

Community

We believe our impact on local communities is most meaningful when it begins with our employees.

Our goal is to enhance the well-being of our communities through actions and programs rooted in opportunity and inclusion. We encourage volunteer days in the community, in-store events like open mic nights, neighborhood grants, and countless other efforts a store might come up with that matter to the people in the neighborhood.

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For our communities

Here’s the impact we’ve made across the U.S. and Canada:

Contributed $15 million to 10k+ organizations since 2019 through Neighborhood Grants
We match employee volunteer time and donations up to $1,000 each year
Over 9 million meals donated in 2023 as part of the Starbucks FoodShare food donation program
153,000 hours volunteered by employees in 2023

Coffee

We’re committed to ensuring a sustainable future of coffee for all.

In collaboration with Conservation International, we created the Coffee and Farmer Equity (C.A.F.E.) Practices, supporting our 400,000 coffee farmers in 30 countries around the world.

As one of the industry’s first set of ethical sourcing standards, it ensures the long-term supply of high-quality coffee while protecting the well-being of coffee farmers, their families and communities.

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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 to ensure the sustainability of coffee for all.
Michelle Burns, Executive Vice President of Global Coffee, Social Impact & Sustainability

For the coffee industry

Actions we’re taking for a sustainable future:

Starbucks provides 70 million rust-resistant coffee trees to help coffee farmers mitigate effects of climate change
Starbucks open-source agronomy initiative offers training and resources to help farmers continue to improve the quality of their crops
Starbucks has contracted more than 1,300 eco-wet mills to conserve water usage in green coffee processing by 50%
Starbucks operates 10 Farmer Support Centers to assist farmers in coffee-producing countries
Starbucks developed six coffee tree varietals that have the combination of good yield, great taste and resistance to impacts of climate change and pests