Starbusks And Conservation International
9-303-055
REV: MAY 1, 2004
JAMES E. AUSTIN
CATE REAVIS
Starbucks and Conservation International
Aligning self-interest to social responsibility is the most powerful way to sustaining a company’s success.
—Orin Smith, President and CEO, Starbucks Coffee Company
In mid-2002, the management of Starbucks, the world’s leading specialty coffee company, was examining its collaborative efforts with the environmental nonprofit Conservation International to promote coffee-growing practices that would enhance the environment and produce high-quality coffee beans. This four-year-old alliance was an integral part of Starbucks’ business and social strategy of strengthening the well-being of small coffee producers.
These efforts were taking place during a tumultuous time for the coffee industry. Overproduction had caused world coffee prices to plummet, creating economic hardships for growers. Concerned social groups had launched the Fair Trade movement to pressure coffee buyers to pay higher prices to small growers. Environmental groups were clamoring about habitat destruction arising from production practices. At the same time, Starbucks had led the explosive growth of the specialty coffee segment of an otherwise stagnant coffee market.
The industry situation and the company’s leadership position posed significant challenges for
Starbucks. It was a lightning rod for nonprofit groups seeking solutions to social problems in the coffee industry. Aside from having to manage these pressures, Starbucks’ own values motivated it to find innovative solutions that would create a more economically, environmentally, and socially sustainable coffee system. It was assessing the role of the alliance with CI as part of that strategy.
Starbucks Coffee Company
Named after the first mate in Herman Melville’s Moby Dick,1 Starbucks Coffee Company was founded in 1971 when its first store, Starbucks Coffee, Tea and Spice, opened in Seattle. In its first year, the company bought its beans from
REV: MAY 1, 2004
JAMES E. AUSTIN
CATE REAVIS
Starbucks and Conservation International
Aligning self-interest to social responsibility is the most powerful way to sustaining a company’s success.
—Orin Smith, President and CEO, Starbucks Coffee Company
In mid-2002, the management of Starbucks, the world’s leading specialty coffee company, was examining its collaborative efforts with the environmental nonprofit Conservation International to promote coffee-growing practices that would enhance the environment and produce high-quality coffee beans. This four-year-old alliance was an integral part of Starbucks’ business and social strategy of strengthening the well-being of small coffee producers.
These efforts were taking place during a tumultuous time for the coffee industry. Overproduction had caused world coffee prices to plummet, creating economic hardships for growers. Concerned social groups had launched the Fair Trade movement to pressure coffee buyers to pay higher prices to small growers. Environmental groups were clamoring about habitat destruction arising from production practices. At the same time, Starbucks had led the explosive growth of the specialty coffee segment of an otherwise stagnant coffee market.
The industry situation and the company’s leadership position posed significant challenges for
Starbucks. It was a lightning rod for nonprofit groups seeking solutions to social problems in the coffee industry. Aside from having to manage these pressures, Starbucks’ own values motivated it to find innovative solutions that would create a more economically, environmentally, and socially sustainable coffee system. It was assessing the role of the alliance with CI as part of that strategy.
Starbucks Coffee Company
Named after the first mate in Herman Melville’s Moby Dick,1 Starbucks Coffee Company was founded in 1971 when its first store, Starbucks Coffee, Tea and Spice, opened in Seattle. In its first year, the company bought its beans from