Exploring Starbucks' Sustainable Supply Chain Initiatives

Starbucks has spent more than five decades developing its coffee supply chain.

It has now published its 2025 Impact Report, which details how it sources coffee and manages operations across producer countries.

According to the report, Starbucks implemented its Back to Starbucks strategy at the start of the 2025 fiscal year. The approach refocused operations on core business activities.

Sourcing verification and standards

Starbucks worked with Conservation International more than 20 years ago to create Coffee and Farmer Equity Practices. The programme established one of the first industry-wide sourcing standards for coffee production.

C.A.F.E. Practices provides checkpoints for farms across the supply chain. The system assesses how coffee is grown, processed and traded before it reaches Starbucks locations.

According to the 2025 Impact Report, more than 99% of the company's coffee came from supply chains verified to meet C.A.F.E. Practices standards in 2025. This verification process could show how the company tracks agricultural practices at origin.

The programme applies to Starbucks suppliers in multiple coffee-producing regions. Farms must meet criteria related to production methods and processing standards to qualify as C.A.F.E. Practices suppliers.

Distribution of climate-resistant varieties

Starbucks set a distribution target in 2017 to provide 100 million coffee trees to farmers by 2025. The company has now met this target, according to the report.

Trees were donated to farmers in El Salvador, Guatemala and Mexico. The varieties were bred to withstand climate impacts and could improve productivity in these growing regions.

Kelly Goodejohn, Chief Sustainability and Social Impact Officer at Starbucks, says the company achieved several multi-year targets during the reporting period: "For more than 50 years we've believed in the power of business to make a positive impact and our teams work every day to translate that idea into action.

"It was a year of significant progress. This includes achieving several ambitious multi-year goals, in some cases ahead of schedule."

Investment in supply continuity

According to Kelly, Starbucks has invested US$200m in coffee sustainability to date. The company has also allocated more than US$325m to renewable energy projects and US$50m to anchor investments in two WaterEquity funds.

These investments target infrastructure that supports supply chain operations. Access to clean water and renewable energy could mean improved processing capacity in producer regions.

Kelly adds the company invested more than US$100m in its FoodShare hunger relief programme. This initiative operates across Starbucks locations in the US and Canada.

Workforce development programmes

Starbucks College Achievement Plan completed 11 years of operation in 2025. The programme provides eligible US partners with 100% upfront tuition coverage for online bachelor's degrees at Arizona State University.

More than 28,000 partners have participated in the programme. Nearly 17,000 have graduated with degrees from ASU, according to the report.

Nearly 90% of Starbucks' US coffeehouses have at least one partner enrolled in the programme. The company also provides training and development opportunities for partners across its operations.

Emissions and energy sourcing

Starbucks has reduced its Scope 1 and 2 market-based greenhouse gas emissions by 17% since 2019. The company set a target to achieve a 50% absolute reduction in Scope 1, 2 and 3 greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, from a FY19 baseline.

According to the report, Starbucks is actively reassessing this target. The company has met 100% of electricity needs for all company-operated coffeehouses globally through power purchase agreements, renewable energy certificates and direct investments, excluding China.

Starbucks is developing new renewable energy projects and storage facilities through direct investments. Long-term contracts enable project financing for these infrastructure additions.

Food redistribution operations

Starbucks launched its FoodShare programme in 2016. The initiative donates unsold food from US and Canada coffeehouses to hunger relief organisations.

According to the report, partners helped donate more than 16 million meals last year. The programme reinvested US$16.4m into hunger relief initiatives during the same period.

FoodShare has helped donate nearly 122 million meals to date. The programme has reinvested more than US$102.7m into programmes addressing food insecurity since its launch.

Kelly adds on LinkedIn that some challenges the company is addressing remain complex: "Progress isn't always linear, and some of the challenges we're working to address are complex. But I'm encouraged by the momentum we're building and grateful to everyone who made this progress possible."