How Does Coffee Certified Under C.A.F.E. Practices Work?
The National Consumers League has sued Starbucks in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, arguing that the company's "100% ethically sourced" marketing claim misleads buyers. The complaint says the C.A.F.E. Practices certification program has not effectively prevented child labor, forced labor and other abuses on farms that supply Starbucks coffee, including in Brazil, Guatemala and Kenya. Starbucks said it will defend itself vigorously.
Since 2015, Starbucks has stated that 99 percent of its coffee is ethically sourced, and C.A.F.E. Practices remains central to how the company buys coffee beans from farms. NCL CEO Sally Greenberg said journalists and officials have documented abuses over the past decade. The case tests how much weight a coffee certified label carries when it appears on packaged beans sold in Starbucks stores.
Recently, the National Consumers League (NCL) filed a lawsuit against Starbucks in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, accusing its "100% ethically sourced" claim of deceiving consumers. The NCL pointed out that Starbucks emphasizes its ethical sourcing commitment in its marketing, yet fails to effectively address labor abuses such as child labor and forced labor in its coffee supply chain. Since 2015, Starbucks has claimed that 99% of its coffee is ethically sourced. Although its C.A.F.E. Practices program includes multiple indicators, investigative journalists in Brazil and elsewhere have still found violations at certified farms. Starbucks responded that it will vigorously defend itself and emphasized that it works with farms to ensure compliance with standards.
Recently, the well-known U.S. consumer advocacy organization, the National Consumers League (NCL), filed a complaint with the Superior Court of the District of Columbia against Starbucks Coffee Company. The NCL alleges that Starbucks' promotion of ethical coffee sourcing is deceptive, marketing to consumers' preference for ethically sourced products on the one hand while failing to adequately address a series of documented labor abuses in its green coffee supply chain on the other. The complaint also states that Starbucks' internal sustainability certification program, C.A.F.E. Practices, has failed to effectively prevent child labor, forced labor, and other abuses, and that Starbucks prominently uses the marketing phrase "100% ethically sourced" on its roasted and packaged coffee products.
Sally Greenberg, CEO of the National Consumers League (NCL), said that over the past decade, investigative journalists and government officials have found extreme abuses on the farms and cooperatives that supply coffee and tea to Starbucks. These abuses span Brazil, Guatemala, Kenya, and elsewhere. Starbucks had every opportunity to correct its ethical sourcing practices and update its C.A.F.E. Practices standards, but failed to do so. Instead, Starbucks has made its commitment to ethical sourcing a key part of its brand identity and marketing.
As early as 2015, Starbucks first claimed that 99% of its coffee supply chain was ethically sourced. According to the company, the sourcing standard Starbucks uses when buying coffee beans from farms is the C.A.F.E. (Coffee and Farmer Equity) Practices program. This standard was developed by Starbucks in collaboration with Conservation International and the independent third-party certification company SCS Global Services, and covers four categories: product quality, economic accountability, social responsibility, and environmental leadership. The program uses a points system with a total of 185 indicators, and points are awarded for complying with the indicators. Smallholder farmers with less than 12 hectares of land and some cooperatives earn scores on these indicators, and suppliers must comply with mandatory "zero tolerance" indicators. If scores and indicators meet the requirements, suppliers are rewarded with an increased shipping price for green beans.
The "zero tolerance" indicators include the use of child labor, forced labor, and discrimination. However, in its lawsuit, the NCL cited numerous reports of alleged labor abuses in Starbucks' coffee and tea supply chain, including a 2023 report published by the Brazilian journalism outlet Repórter Brasil. The report found labor violations at four coffee farms that comply with the C.A.F.E. program, including certified coffee farms in the Minas Gerais region of Brazil. But Starbucks is not the only company facing allegations of labor abuses within its supply chain. In Brazil alone, Repórter Brasil has exposed alleged abuses by coffee suppliers to Nestlé, McDonald's, and others.
In response, Starbucks said it is aware of the lawsuit and plans to "defend against claims that Starbucks misrepresented its ethical sourcing commitment to consumers." Starbucks said it takes such allegations very seriously and actively engages with farms to ensure they meet the standards. Every supply chain requires periodic revalidation, and Starbucks remains committed to working with business partners to meet the expectations detailed in Starbucks' Global Human Rights Statement.
The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.
