Starbucks Values Social Responsibility: Interview

This week I interviewed Lisa Zunich, who is a district manager at Starbucks Coffee in Long Beach, CA.  I chose Starbucks because I was already aware of their environmental efforts because they are often listed on the cups when I buy a drink from there.  After reading this weeks assignments about the ethical practices of companies, I wanted to conduct an interview and feature a company who practices the value of social consciousness.  I was not aware that Starbucks goes way beyond recycling.  I hope you are as impressed with their efforts as much as I was.  This interview made me feel better about my latte addiction.

Is Starbucks really socially responsible? 
Yes, the company is very impressive.  They believe that since they have such a large scale global foot print, they can help the community and the world.  At least in places and communities where we do business.

How does Starbucks help or show social responsibility? 
Starbucks has a large scope of ways that they address their social responsibility.  We have several community projects that we are involved in here in the U.S. and internationally.   A big focus for the company has been to create jobs in the America.  We have a partnership with Opportunity Finance Network to help create jobs; we are committed to donating 5 million dollars to the cause.   We create jobs not only by employing the people who work in our stores but also by stocking our stores with products made here in the U.S.  For example, all of the ceramics used in our stores for sale like the mugs and cups are made in the U.S. 

That's great.  Does each Starbucks store work within the community it is in?
Yes.  We have several projects like our Community Service project which involves helping the employees and customers get involved in the community by volunteering with organizations that need their help.  We also have a Youth Action foundation that is designed to engage young people to inspire positive change in their community.  Last year Starbucks donated over 2 million dollars in grants for the Youth Action program.   Our Los Angeles store by USC actually shares a portion of its profits with the community. 

Really?  That's amazing.  What location?
Its the Crenshaw and Coliseum Store, in the Crenshaw district.

Ok, cool.  Good to know.  What is the Ethos Water Foundation?
Ethos Water Foundation was created to raise awareness of the water crisis around the world, where many children and families do not have access to water.  When you buy a bottle of our water, 5 cents goes to the foundation.  Starbucks has raised over 6 million dollars for water stressed countries. 

I know that environmental issues are important to your company.  How does Starbucks show social responsibility for the environment? 
Our cups are partially made from recycled material, and we encourage our customers to bring in reusable cups.  We also launched the first plastic cup that has less of an environmental impact than most plastic cups.  Starbucks is BIG on recycling.  You may notice we have recycling bins not trashcans in some of our stores too.  We are also conscious of how much water we use in our store.  As a company, we are focused on water conservation as well.

Does Starbucks do anything to reduce energy? 
Yes!  We use LED lighting in all of our stores.  We were the first company to really do that.  Our equipment is energy efficient too.  Even our heating and air conditioning systems are energy efficient.  We also are also very invested in renewable energy and have a company goal of being 100% run by renewable energy by 2015.

That's awesome!  Tell me about what Starbucks does globally. 
We are every careful in our coffee purchasing practices from our international farmers.  We use C.A.F.E. (Coffee And Farmer Equity) Practices, which include over 200 indicators such as social, economic and environmental factors to identify farms from which we buy our coffee and tea.  Our Tazo Brand Tea is a member of the ethical tea partnership which also helps to improve the quality of life for tea farmers.  Even our cocoa is purchased from ethical farming producers. 

How can you be sure?  Does Starbucks do any surprise audits on the farms they are contracted with? 
Actually, last year we assessed 129 factories. 38 factories failed our assessment.  As a result we discontinued 26 factories as Starbucks suppliers.  We dropped them immediately because we have a zero-tolerance policy that we take very seriously and we want our suppliers to take them seriously too. 

What is the Global Social Compliance Program?
That is an effort that businesses like Starbucks are involved in to support continuous improvement of environmental and working conditions of global suppliers.   We became members last year.