Starbucks CEO Touts Corporate Social Responsibility

by Zarah Patriana

Published November 12, 2008 @ 11:24AM PT

Here at the Change.org Fair Trade blog, we have been discussing Starbucks' recent decision to double their Fair Trade coffee purchases. We've heard opinion from different voices within the Fair Trade community about how this decision affects the Fair Trade movement as a whole. We've also had interesting dialogue from some blog readers who have been weighing in their concerns about Starbucks' business practices and really hoping their Starbucks follows through on their promises. Starbucks hasn't had the best record with their coffee farmers and even their own workers.

With Starbucks closing down several of their cafes throughout the country, it looks like Starbucks is trying to restrategize their business structure and put an emphasis on corporate social responsibility and invest in the people and society as a whole. Recently, Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz wrote a statement on Huffington Post about their newfound commitment:

Now is the time for business leaders to step up ... and to lead. Just as the American public voted on Tuesday for a sea change in the way our country approaches the long-term "business" of being America, so too do business leaders have an obligation and a responsibility to think of the long-term benefit their companies must provide for shareholders, employees and customers.

Today, perhaps more than ever before, we need to remind ourselves where we came from, what we are about, what we stand for and where we are going. We must recommit ourselves to living up to the principles and the core values that helped us establish our businesses in the first place.

Now is a time to be bold. Now is a time to invest, truly and authentically, in our people, in our corporate responsibility and in our communities. The argument--and opportunity--for companies to do this has never been more compelling. A recent opinion piece by former Vice President Al Gore Jr. and David Blood makes this point eloquently. "Sustainability and long-term value creation are closely linked," they wrote earlier this week in the Wall Street Journal. "Business and markets cannot operate in isolation from society or the environment."

I share that belief, and it has guided me and my partners over the past three decades, as we have grown Starbucks into the company it is today. Sure, we are the first to admit that Starbucks is by no means perfect. We have made our share of mistakes. But I can tell you unequivocally that as Starbucks confronts today's economic challenges, it will do so while remaining true to our principles and fostering a culture that genuinely embraces our collective humanity.

With a statement like this from the higher-ups at Starbucks, let's really hope that their commitment is genuine and that corporate social responsibility means more transparency and better opportunities for small-scale farmers and artisans around the world.