We’ve long believed that drinking coffee is a global act – every cup is connected to a complex web of communities and environments around the world.
By early 2015, we’d achieved 99& percent ethical sourcing within our own supply chain – but we needed to take a wider look at the longevity of our industry. Nearly every major coffee-producing region of the world was feeling the impact of climate change. Warming temperatures, drought and changing weather patterns were affecting coffee production and threatening farmer and family livelihoods.
That December, Conservation International, in partnership with Starbucks and other coffee leaders, introduced the Sustainable Coffee Challenge, a call to action to make coffee the first sustainable agricultural product in the world. By convening industry and conservation partners to develop a common framework for sustainability, the Challenge’s goals are to stimulate economic development, improve the lives of coffee producers and provide environmental benefits.
