Freedom United and our global partners, Be Slavery Free, Green America, and Mighty Earth, are taking on coffee chain giant Starbucks. We are requesting that Starbucks provide detailed information on the origin of the cocoa used in their chocolates, baked goods, and beverages, as well as a clear plan to address critical supply chain issues such as human rights violations and deforestation.
Sarah George for Edie reports,
Be Slavery Free, Freedom United, Green America and Mighty Earth are campaigning for Starbucks to provide detailed information in its annual reporting on progress towards its commitments to sustainable cocoa sourcing. The business sources cocoa for its chocolates plus some baked goods and some beverages.
Starbucks’ most recent annual global environmental and social impact report did not include data pertaining to the origin of cocoa, nor did it include numbers relating to due diligence checks and remediation. This is despite the report stating that Starbucks’ cocoa sourcing approach is ““built on a foundation of traceability”.
Not so delicious record
Leading researchers and subject matter experts have come together to survey and grade major chocolate brands on their policies related to child labor, living income, traceability & transparency, deforestation & climate, agroforestry, and agrichemical management, producing a Chocolate Scorecard every year.
Starbucks has received the second-to-lowest grade in the most recent Scorecard. Why?
According to Freedom United Executive Director, Joanna Ewart-James,
“Starbucks does not have a reputation for encouraging worker empowerment, having famously failed to put in place even one collective bargaining agreement with workers, despite a strong union drive across U.S. stores. This approach to workers’ rights is no different down their supply chain where, like many other companies, they are failing to ensure cocoa farmers supplying their chocolate products have enough to make ends meet. It is time we made clear that we expect Starbucks to put people above profit.”
Write to Starbucks
Freedom United just launched a new action to support the coalition’s call. You can now write to Starbucks CEO, Laxman Narasimhan and demand that they:
- Trace and publicly disclose 100% of Starbucks cocoa purchases to the farm level
- Provide cocoa farmers supplying Starbucks with a credible living income
- Scale up monitoring systems that identify and address child labor and child trafficking in 100% of the company’s cocoa supply chains
- End all cocoa sourcing from deforested areas, and support robust agroforestry practices and reforestation where forest loss has already occurred
- Deploy large-scale programs to rapidly reduce pesticide usage on cocoa farms
Freedom United is interested in hearing from our community and welcomes relevant, informed comments, advice, and insights that advance the conversation around our campaigns and advocacy. We value inclusivity and respect within our community. To be approved, your comments should be civil.