New Starbucks Lawsuit Claims Its Coffee Is Not as Ethically Sourced as It Says

Earlier this week, the consumer advocacy organization National Consumers League (NCL) filed a lawsuit against Starbucks, alleging that the coffee chain is “falsely and deceptively claiming '100% ethical' coffee and tea sourcing” in its marketing to consumers. The NCL alleges that in reality, “Starbucks is sourcing from coffee and tea farms and cooperatives with a documented history of child labor, forced labor, sexual harassment and assault and other human rights abuses.”

The NCL believes that consumers have “a right to know exactly what they’re paying for” and that “investigations by government agencies and journalists” have shown “a clear pattern of labor and human rights abuses at Starbucks’ preferred farms and cooperatives—even those that have received the company’s own 'C.A.F.E. Practices' certification.”

What Is Starbucks' C.A.F.E. Practices Program?

The Coffee and Farmer Equity Practices (C.A.F.E. Practices) is, according to Starbucks’ C.A.F.E. Practices page, a “verification program, not a one-time certification system.”

Starbucks purchases “three percent of the world’s coffee, sourced from more than 400,000 farmers in more than 30 countries,” and because of that, the company states it “understands our future is inextricably tied to the future of farmers and their families.” Therefore, the C.A.F.E. Practices include four criteria areas: Economic Transparency, Social Responsibility, Environmental Leadership, and Quality. Specifics of each practice are available on the Starbucks website. 

To verify the practices are in place, Starbucks uses third-party organizations to “conduct inspections at farms milling facilities and warehouses within the supply chain to evaluate performance against more than 200 indicators in the scorecard.” Then Starbucks assigns C.A.F.E. Practice status if it's warranted.

What Are the Allegations Against Starbucks' Ethically Sourced Claim?

Despite Starbucks' verification process, NCL alleges “there are significant human rights and labor abuses across Starbucks’ supply chain,” and cites specific reports that contradict Starbucks' ethically sourced message. Those reports include an undercover BBC investigation that found one of Starbucks’ Kenyan tea sources permitted “rampant sexual abuse” and paid workers at the source as little as $30 per week. Other offenses include slavery-like conditions in Brazil at a “Starbucks-Certified” farm and children “under 13 years old working 40 or 50 hours per week” in Guatemala. 

The NCL alleges Starbucks has “failed to respond with meaningful action” to situations like these.

We reached out to Starbucks about the allegations and received the following statement: “We are aware of the lawsuit, and plan to aggressively defend against the asserted claims that Starbucks has misrepresented its ethical sourcing commitments to customers. We take allegations like these extremely seriously and are actively engaged with farms to ensure they adhere to our standards.“

They added, "Each supply chain is required to undergo re-verification regularly and we remain committed to working with our business partners to meet the expectations detailed in our Global Human Rights Statement.”

Starbucks also told us that since 2020, the company has supported three collective action projects in Brazil. The outcomes of those projects have the objective of strengthening the industry’s ability to monitor and identify violations and also increase Starbucks' understanding of “recruitment dynamics in the Brazilian coffee sector.”

Only time will tell what comes of this lawsuit, but between this, the Stanley collaboration fiasco, and the rewards program scandal, it's safe to say it's been a tough week for Starbucks fans.