Consumer group sues Starbucks over its sourcing claims
A consumer advocacy group has sued Starbucks, accusing the company of false advertising and deceiving customers by claiming its beverages are 100% ethically sourced.
There is widespread evidence to suggest that the Seattle-based coffee chain “relies on farms and cooperatives that commit egregious labor and human rights violations” to produce their coffee and tea, according to the lawsuit, filed in a Washington, D.C., court on Wednesday by The National Consumers League.
“On every bag of coffee and box of Kcups sitting on grocery store shelves, Starbucks is telling consumers a lie,” Sally Greenberg, chief executive officer of the National Consumers League, said in a news release.
The lawsuit says that the company continues to “unjustly benefit” from its reputation as a leader in corporate responsibility despite doing business with cooperatives and farms with a documented history of “child labor, forced labor, sexual harassment and assault,” according to a copy of the complaint obtained by USA TODAY on Thursday.
Starbucks plans on “aggressively defending against claims that the company has misrepresented our ethical sourcing commitments to customers,” according to a statement.
“We take these allegations very seriously,” Michelle Burns, executive vice president of global coffee, social impact and sustainability, wrote in a statement. Here’s what we know.
What does the lawsuit against Starbucks seek?
The goal of the lawsuit is to protect consumers nationwide, who may “unknowingly be buying unethically sourced coffee or tea” from the brand and be paying a a premium for those products, according to the consumer league. “Consumers have a right to know exactly what they’re paying for,” Greenberg said in a news release.
The consumer group said it sought an order to prevent the coffee chain from “further engaging in deceptive advertising and requiring the company to run a corrective advertising campaign,” according to its website.
In order to “make good” on the promises advertised to its customers, Starbucks would have to “significantly reform its sourcing and monitoring practices,” the consumer league said, citing examples of alleged ethical violations over the past decade.
Some of alleged violations include: a 2022 labor complaint filed in Brazil, sexual abuse discovered at a plantation in Kenya, “slavery-like conditions” at a farm in Brazil, and evidence of children younger than 13 working at a farm in Guatemala, according to the consumer league The group also says that despite a C.A.F.E. Practices certification – an ethical sourcing standard launched by the company in 2004 – at those “certified
farms and cooperatives,” Starbucks has failed to respond with meaningful action in instances where possible abuse was reported.
“Starbucks misleadingly fails to disclose facts material to consumer-purchasing decisions, including that many of its supposedly ethical suppliers have in fact relied on forced and/or child labor, i.e. that C.A.F.E. Practices certification does not guarantee the absence of forced and child labor,” according to the complaint.
How has Starbucks responded?
Starbucks has stood behind its ethical-sourcing program, Coffee and Farmer Equity (C.A.F.E.) Practices says.
“We are actively engaged with farms to ensure they adhere to our standards. Each supply chain is required to undergo reverification regularly and we remain committed to working with our business partners to meet the expectations detailed in our Global Human Rights Statement,” according to a statement provided to USA TODAY on Friday.
“Our commitment and our responsibility to build a more sustainable, equitable, and resilient future for coffee is unwavering,” according to a company statement.
The coffee giant included a list of facts about C.A.F.E. Practices and says it “remains the cornerstone of our holistic work to ensure the long-term supply of high-quality coffee.”
● “C.A.F.E. Practices is a verification program, not a one-time certification system.”
● “To maintain an active status in the program, each supply chain is required to undergo reverification regularly with frequency dictated by their performance in the program and the size of the farm.”
● “Starbucks relies on SCS Global Services (SCS) to ensure the quality and integrity of the third-party auditing for C.A.F.E. Practices.”
● “We believe that a focus on scrutiny for continuous improvement is the right approach to promote positive change amongst suppliers and farms and ensure a future for everyone involved in coffee.”
“In instances where Starbucks is notified of alleged violations, we take immediate action. … We remain committed to meeting the expectations detailed in our Global Human Rights Statement.”
After “auditing farms, evaluating results, and strengthening our auditing standards and practices” over the past 20 years, the company said, it has “gained valuable insights into what support coffee farmers need.”
Starbucks said it would keep its partners updated as it learned more about the accusations. “We will continue to maintain our presence in regions where we source coffee across the globe – even when it’s hard – because it is the right thing to do,” Burns said. “We believe Starbucks’ presence in these communities must be a force of good.”