Ethics Assignment: Starbucks’ Corporate Social Responsibility – Annmaria Patterson

 

Starbucks’ Corporate Social Responsibility

I automatically knew that Starbucks would be the perfect company for me to do my CSR report on. I love Starbucks! I mean my entire family loves Starbuck, from gift cards to random surprise Frappuccino’s, Its definitely a business we invest a lot of time and money into. Founded March 30, 1971, in Seattle, Washington; Starbucks is an American multinational chain of coffee houses that has expanded globally. It is in fact, the world’s largest coffeehouse chain, with over 35,000 stores in over 80 countries. Millions of Americans lined up daily to get their freshly roasted coffee, lattes, refreshers, bagels, and the list goes on. Being the largest coffee house in the world can put a lot of stress and demand on a business. Lines form as early as 6am in some locations with heaving morning, lunch and evening rush; there’s barely any down time for these locations. This demand puts a strain not only on the supply chain and sourcing but its workers and the community it serves. It is Starbucks duty and responsibility to ensure they are being corporate socially responsible to their workers, supply chain, the environment, communities and humanity. Starbucks has made it a point to be on top and ahead of their CSR, they have been implementing numerous policies and practices to improve their social impact.

 

In the business world reducing your carbon footprint is the best thing a company can do for their corporate social responsibility. There are constant debates on the use of resources and the production of waste that businesses produce. Starbucks has taken a big initiative when it comes to their impact on the environment. The company focused on reducing its environmental footprint by implementing initiatives like reducing waste, using renewable energy, and promoting recyclability. When it comes to transparency, Starbucks is not shy at all. Since 2001, Starbucks has been publishing an annual report on their performance against key environmental, social, and governance factors (ESG). These reports are conducted by a third-party and go into detail on the achievements, and the improvements needed to be made based on that year. Amongst that report, Starbucks has also conducted and released several other environmental assessments to evaluate the company. The Environmental Baseline Report goes into details about exactly what resources Starbucks uses at what quantity, and how it impacts and can impact the environment as well as detailing their carbon footprint globally.

 

For decades, Starbucks has been committed to developing and implementing a set of green buildings and operations. Today Starbucks is a world leader in green retail currently operating over 1600 LEED certified stores. By 2025 Starbucks plans to operate over 10,000 greener stores globally. Starbucks does not only strive to conserve energy by building and operating in green buildings, but they also plan to produce sustainable packaging that would contribute to recycling. Since 2015 all Canada and US company operating stores operate on sufficient renewable energy. 

 

All suppliers that work with Starbucks are required to sign an agreement, in compliance with Starbucks supplier code of conduct and other specific standards. It includes the commitment to the welfare, economic improvement, and sustainability of the people and practices that produce their products. As well as adhering to local and international standard laws and regulations to human rights, and meeting or exceeding national laws and internal life standards for environmental protection. Such a detailed document specifying the code of conduct that Starbucks requires, it is a terrific way to cancel, highlight, as well as hold responsible suppliers for their behavior while conducting business with or on behalf of Starbucks. Starbucks is constantly audited, and this compliance is the one thing that is examined. The Coffee and Farmer Equity (C.A.F.E) practice ensures that Starbucks is sourcing sustainably grown and processed coffee and is aimed to promote fair wages and environmentally responsible farming practices. Starbucks uses their C.A.F.E. practices while sourcing to promote their zero-tolerance standard for conversions of natural forest, also with this practice they are focused on ending deforestation.

 

In 1997 Starbucks founded the Starbucks Foundation originally it was established to fund the youth literacy programs in the US and Canada but today it invests in communities around the world. Providing employment, education, and food; The Starbucks Foundation has made an impact globally. The Starbucks program is active in 125 stores around the country and has assisted more than 4000 people experiencing homelessness enroll in a transitional housing program and receive services. Starbucks has also partnered with Feeding America and No Kid Hungry to donate food at the end of the day to feed those in need. Starbucks also has donated millions of dollars to numerous food banks around the world to help tackle the fight against hunger. In 2022 Starbucks launched their Global Community Impact Grant program which focuses on local impact in the communities that Starbucks operates in around the world. These grants support youth empowerment, social services, hunger relief, economic opportunities, and much more.

 

The Starbucks Community Service program encourages volunteering in communities to address issues that directly affect them. This program was launched in April 2010 and gives partners(employees) an opportunity to organize projects in their neighborhoods in conjunction with local nonprofit organization. Starbucks offers competitive wages, benefits, and stock options to its employees, including part-time workers. They also had programs for employee development and advancement.

Starbucks is doing a great job so far with their corporate social responsibility. They can continue to improve their CSR efforts a number of ways. Constantly updating their policies, reports and statements are great way to ensure accuracy and integrity with stakeholders. Some of the reports I found and was able to view were from 3 to 5 years ago. As a consumer or a researcher, I’d expect to find accurate up-to-date data. For a company that conducts so many audits and reports yearly most of the information available on their site and to the public isn’t updated. Starbucks can continue to expand their sustainable and ethical practices not only for coffee but for the other products they service like tea. They are doing a great job so far environmentally by transforming all their buildings to LEED certified, they can continue to set more ambitious goals for energy consumption and reducing waste. They are working on a fully recyclable cup; they can aim to create a fully recyclable set of utensils. Starbucks can improve their fair labor practices by establishing fair working environments for supply chain workers as well. The supply chain is the backbone to the business the employee that operate these supply chains are just as important as the partners. Advocating for better wages for partners would be a great way to boost morale and exercise CSR. The cost of living is increasing constantly, and a lot of employees have to get second jobs to cover cost of living. Starbucks can advocate for higher wages for their partners as a show of gratitude. Working those hectic shifts can become exhausting and discouraging a boost in wages or incentives for employees will improve professional behavior and performance. Starbucks invest a lot of money into their policies, test, sourcing, supply chain and nonprofit organizations but their partners(employees) take a back seat. Lastly Starbucks should conduct regular assessments to help evaluate and amend the CSR initiatives with the help of feedback, emerging issues and fluctuating societal expectations.

 

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