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Does Starbucks Serve Organic Coffee?
Starbucks is a well-known coffee shop known for their diverse selection of organic coffee. Here we explore what options exist at Starbucks so that you can select one to meet your preferences; also we cover how you can identify it and make the best choice for both you and the environment.
Does Starbucks Offer Organic Coffee? Although Starbucks doesn’t sell pure organic coffee, they do provide several sustainable and organic selections and certification programs such as Fair Trade, Rainforest Alliance and USDA Organic to their coffee growers to ensure ethical production of the coffee they source for sale by them and fair pricing to these farmers.
In order to gain certification, coffee farms must undergo an intensive process that includes audits, documentation of compliance with specific standards, and paying an annual fee to certifying organizations. Farms may receive multiple certifications simultaneously such as being both organic and Fair Trade certified simultaneously. Starbucks has invested in multiple coffee farmer support centers worldwide to further sustainable farming practices and encourage sustainable farming practices.
Though no Starbucks coffee farms are certified organic, they do work with those that meet stringent environmental standards. One such farm is Hacienda Alsacia in Costa Rica; this 240-hectare open farm hosts agronomists from all over the globe and features numerous sustainability initiatives designed to increase biodiversity on their land. Starbucks has purchased over one million pounds from this farm since 1998!
Starbucks’ green initiatives extend to their efforts to decrease water use and greenhouse gas emissions, as well as their partnership with Conservation International in protecting El Triunfo Biosphere Reserve in Chiapas, Mexico, through which their Organic Shade Grown Mexico coffee can now be found with a solid green label instead of featuring an image of a beautiful bird as before (though it did feature that option before).
Given Starbucks’ vast volume of purchases, organic beans may not always be practical to acquire at every opportunity; there may be localized shortages that necessitate supplementing from other sources in order to maintain consistent products.
As such, they cannot meet all their environmental and social sustainability goals precisely; but that does not stop them from striving to improve their practices, something which they will keep doing moving forward.