Starbucks Braces for Another
Round with Eco-Protests

Starbucks braces for another round with eco-protests

By Chris Stetkiewicz

SEATTLE, Feb 13 (Reuters) - Facing mounting pressure from protest
groups, Starbucks Corp. SBUX.O on Wednesday affirmed its commitment to
environmentally friendly products and fair wages for coffee farmers.

Protesters will hand out fliers at Starbucks stores in six countries,
including the United States, late this month and amass outside
Starbucks' February 26 annual meeting for a second straight year to
demand hormone-free milk and a stronger commitment to farmers.

"Starbucks is a market leader. They are an icon associated with the
industry and if they start to change their practices it could have a
ripple effect," said Simon Harris, protest organizer for the Organic
Consumers Association (OCA).

Seattle-based Starbucks buys just one percent of the world's coffee
output but its 5,000-plus cafes make it an easy target for opponents of
genetically modified foods--which are not present in Starbucks coffee
and tea--and other activists.

Starbucks now offers organic cow's milk and soy milk in many cafes and
last November agreed to buy 1 million pounds (455,000 kg) of "fair
trade" coffee over 12 to 18 months, guaranteeing at least $1.26 per
pound to small farmers hammered by low prices and a worldwide coffee
glut.

Critics say that's a drop in the bucket, with some 165 million pounds
(75 million kg) of fair trade beans produced each year, and total world
coffee supply near 15 billion pounds (6.6 billion kg).

"We certainly commend them for taking the first step," Harris told
Reuters by telephone. "But there is a lot more room to produce fair
trade coffee, or to take steps to certify that suppliers are paying
farmers the fair price."

Starbucks has also committed to brewing fair trade coffee once a month
in many of its cafes, though some insiders quietly complain about the
uneven quality. Protesters want to see that brew once a week.

Starbucks Chief Executive Orin Smith shot back that the OCA was
spreading "inaccurate" and "grossly misleading" information that
minimized Starbucks' progress on these issues.

"They have also publicly stated that Starbucks is a socially responsible
company and have targeted us only to generate publicity," Smith said in
a statement released to Reuters.

Starbucks noted it buys more than half its beans directly from farms or
co-ops, eliminating markups by middlemen and thus maximizing payments to
farmers.

Organic milk is more difficult to buy and more expensive, Starbucks
said, and customers have shown little appetite for it. Still, the
company promised to keep offering milk without bovine growth hormones
for the foreseeable future.

"We estimate that about 20 percent of all the milk Starbucks purchases
in North America is from cows not treated with (hormones)," Starbucks
said. "As we identify additional qualified suppliers of milk that meet
these standards, we will convert to these sources as long as it is
financially feasible for Starbucks to do so."

The latest protests are the fourth in a series that began at last year's
Starbucks shareholders meeting in Seattle and OCA organizers, who claim
some 250,000 members, say they are growing in size.

Organizers also say they plan to pressure the much larger roasters of
coffee brands that blanket supermarket shelves, including Procter &
Gamble Co. PG.N, which owns Folgers Coffee Co. and Millstone Coffee,
Inc.

P&G last month announced plans to help small farmers in Latin America
produce better quality coffee worth more money and to develop economic
options besides coffee.