Starbucks is growing its network of cooperative coffee innovators, providing resources to farmers worldwide to safeguard coffee’s future.
Building on the groundbreaking global agronomy innovation at its first company-operated coffee farm, Hacienda Alsacia, Starbucks has now expanded to include farms in Guatemala and Costa Rica, with plans to expand into Africa and Asia.
The education taking place on these farms seeks to develop climate resilience, boost farmer profitability, and find ways to make farms more productive.
“Starbucks works with more than 450,000 farms that grow the highest quality Arabica coffee in the world,” said Starbucks EVP of Global Coffee and Sustainability Michelle Burns.
“Our promise to those farmers and their communities is that we will always work to ensure a sustainable future of coffee for all. Our solution is to develop on-farm interventions, share seeds, research and practices across the industry to help farmers mitigate the impacts of climate change.”
Starbucks sources and roasts exclusively Arabica coffee beans, a variety renowned for its complex and rich flavors, accounting for 3 percent of the global coffee market.
Globally, the supply of premium coffee is being impacted by climate change, and farming communities are suffering the effects on their lives, productivity, and crop quality.
Today’s coffee is becoming harder to get and tastes worse. Drought, coffee-leaf rust disease, and other climate-related issues are being brought on by rising temperatures.
Starbucks is attempting to lessen the effects of climate change at Hacienda Alsacia.
The company has developed the next generation of high-quality, disease-resistant coffee and shared all of this knowledge with farmers worldwide. It has also created best practices to increase the profitability of farming coffee.