It takes a coffee tree an entire year to produce just one pound of coffee
beans and coffee trees are susceptible to diseases like coffee leaf rust,
which can decimate their populations.
At the same time, there are more coffee drinkers in the world than ever before.
And demand for coffee is growing.
This threatens the livelihood of hardworking farmers and
the environment we live in.
That's why Starbucks is doing something about it.
So on this episode presented by Starbucks, I want to know how
can these Starbucks initiatives reduce the environmental impact of
growing the coffee we love so much?
To find out, I'll learn from Starbucks exec Kelly Goodejohn, about how
the company is working with the next generation of coffee farmers,
to ensure coffee growing is sustainable and equitable.
I'm Lucy Biggers, and this is One Small Step.
When you're sipping your venti iced coffee, you're probably not putting
much thought into all the things that go into bringing you that pick-me-up.
Some obstacles coffee growers face include disease, drought,
pests and a lack of pollinators.
As a purchaser of 3% of the world's coffee, Starbucks knows it's vital
that they protect and support the future of the coffee industry.
For Starbucks,
sustainability has been at our core since the beginning.
I think we've really take to heart the notion of "we can be profitable,
but also do good in the world."
And that's an important role that we see ourselves playing.
Last year, we made a public ambition that we want to become
resource positive as a company.
So capture more carbon than we admit, reduce waste, and replenish more
water than we use in our operations.
We also set out a ten-year target.
So by 2030, we're going to cut our waste, carbon, and water impact in half.
Kelly Goodejohn serves as Starbuck's VP of Global Coffee
Sustainability and Education.
Kelly manages Starbuck's ethical sourcing programs, with a mission towards
ensuring that growers are treated fairly.
CAFE practices stands for coffee and farmer equity.
And it's really our sustainability guidelines and buying practices that
we apply to all the coffee we purchase.
We have independent third-parties who go and visit farms on a regular basis.
And they're looking for performance against the over 200 indicators that
the CAFE practices program has in place.
Looking at things like protection of farm workers, looking at protection
of waterways and biodiversity.
As well as good farm management practices.
This program has a huge impact because Starbuck's coffee supply
chain involves more than 400,000 farmers in over 30 countries.
We have nine farmer support centers around the world.
The farmer support centers are housed with Starbucks employees
who are trained agronomists.
And so they work with coffee farmers and supply chains as they need support.
They really serve as a center of excellence for coffee farmers,
whether they sell to Starbucks or not.
In Columbia, that may mean helping the next generation of coffee farmers
learn the business side of growing coffee so that they can be profitable.
In Rwanda,
that may mean helping to empower women who are growing coffee so that they can become
better coffee farmers in their own right.
And in Chiapas, Mexico, that may mean helping coffee farmers who are impacted
by climate change and pest and diseases.
So, each coffee region around the world has their own unique challenges.
How do you plan to keep up with demand as coffee seems to be getting
more and more popular every year?
So in 2015, we made a commitment to donate a hundred million coffee trees
to farmers who have been most impacted by the impacts of climate change.
Today, we have over 50 million trees out the door.
So, we're over halfway there.
We're working with coffee tree nurseries, with our suppliers, with
farmers to get disease resistant trees, to farmers who need those.
Today we're donating primarily in Mexico, El Salvador and Guatemala, and the
majority of farmers who are receiving these trees are small-holder farmers,
who really need that extra support.
I know from your role at Starbucks, you travel around
and meet with coffee farmers.
What have you learned from that experience?
I do get the opportunity to meet with lots of coffee farmers and hear their stories.
I recall this one, gentlemen, Ronaldo, who wanted to show me his coffee farm.
And he stood in front of a coffee tree, and he explained to me that
this is the impact of climate change.
Coffee leaf rust had decimated and destroyed his coffee trees.
The coffee harvest is what supports his family.
He has children that rely upon him and his income.
Starbucks knew that we could make a difference, that we could play a role in
getting disease resistant high-quality coffee trees to farmers, like Ronaldo.
Coffee is a family business, in fact, many times it's a
multi-generational family business.
And we're always looking at the future, the things that we're
doing today and putting in place
today to support coffee, is not just for this generation,
but for generations to come.
Another initiative that you all have announced is 50% conservation of water.
How are you going to go about that as well?
Coffee processing equipments oftentimes are water intensive.
And so we are investing in low water, coffee processing equipment.
I like to think of it as the washing machines of 20 years ago versus
the washing machines of today.
They're using far less water and still as effective.
What is one small step that people can take to support the
future of the coffee industry?
So, one small step is to get to know where your products are coming from.
Last year, we launched a traceability tool which enables our customers to scan
a bag of coffee that they find in their local Starbucks store, and know the story
of the farmers and places that grow it.
I also want people to know that every time they buy coffee from Starbucks,
they're doing something good.
And we're going to continue to support coffee for the long haul.
Many of us can't get through the day without coffee, but there's a
lot of hard work and environmental impacts behind each cup.
Hopefully by 2030, these Starbucks initiatives can reduce the environmental
impact of growing the coffee we love
so much.
That's all for this episode.
Thank you so much for watching and we'll see you next time, when we talk about
Starbuck's waste reduction initiatives.
Bye!