Starbucks gives in to coffee activists

A human rights group has called off its national "Roast Starbucks" campaign after the Seattle coffee retailer said it would sell "Fair Trade" coffee at nearly all of its stores by the end of the year.

The move is a major victory for California-based Global Exchange, which has long pressured Starbucks to buy coffee from vendors who have certified that the growers received a fair price for their crops.

Global Exchange has long sought to increase wages for foreign plantation workers. The growers who employ them routinely sell coffee for 50 cents a pound; Fair Trade certification requires coffee to be sold at $1.26 a pound through small farm cooperatives. Global Exchange hopes the additional money will go to workers.

Under the agreement between Starbucks and TransFair USA, the nonprofit organization that certifies Fair Trade products, the company will market Fair Trade coffee at 2,000 retail locations and on its Web site. In addition to posters and brochures that explain the significance of Fair Trade products, the coffee also will bear TransFair USA's certification seal.

Alan Gulik, Starbucks' director of public affairs, said the price of the Fair Trade coffee has not been set but will be "within the price range" of regular Starbucks coffee, which is sold at $10 a pound.

The first batch of Fair Trade coffee will hit stores sometime in October, said Dave Olsen, Starbucks senior vice-president for corporate social responsibility.

Olsen gave no specific figures but said the company would certainly have to purchase much more Fair Trade coffee to supply its stores. Starbucks already bought 75,000 pounds of Fair Trade coffee from Guatemala and Nicaragua in February.

Consumer demand, he said, will really determine the future of the program.

"What we really don't know yet is how this will help us grow our whole bean sales," Olsen said.

Demand will not be a problem, said Jason Mark, a spokesman for Global Exchange. He estimated Starbucks would buy up to 1.5 million pounds of Fair Trade coffee this year.

Global Exchange had planned a series of protests against Starbucks while the International Monetary Fund and World Bank meet in Washington D.C. this week The Specialty Coffee Association, of which Starbucks is a member, also meets this Friday.

Global Exchange quickly took credit for forcing Starbucks' hand.

"There is no question that the upcoming protests prompted Starbucks to make this move," said Mark, noting company executives, including Olsen, flew down to San Francisco to brief the group about the program.

Still, Starbucks' announcement completely caught the group by surprise, said Deborah James, Fair Trade director at Global Exchange, who expected the "Roast Starbucks" campaign to last for most of the year.

Thomas Lee's phone message number is 206-464-2448. His e-mail address is: tomlee@seattletimes.com