Starbucks is adding two more coffee farms to combat climate change

Starbucks announced that it will expand its coffee farm network from one coffee farm – Hacienda Alsacia in Costa Rica – to another farm in Costa Rica and a third farm in Guatemala, with more to come in Africa and Asia. The long-term goal is to combat climate change through sustainable agricultural practices and increase productivity on farms to help improve the profitability of these small farmers, the company said.

“Starbucks works with more than 450,000 farms that grow the highest quality Arabica coffee in the world,” Michelle Burns, executive vice president of global coffee and sustainability at Starbucks, said in a statement. “Our promise to these farmers and their communities is that we will always work to ensure a sustainable coffee future for all.” Our solution is to develop on-farm interventions, seeds, research and practices across the industry share to help farmers mitigate the impacts of climate change.”

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Starbucks, which currently purchases 3% of the world's coffee, is focused on improving the resilience of the coffee plant in the face of rising global temperatures, drought, coffee leaf rust disease and other related climate challenges that impact the availability and taste of coffee.

On these new farms, Starbucks will experiment with new agricultural innovations and methods. For example, the new farm in Costa Rica, which will be located next to the first farm, will explore the use of mechanization and drones to address challenges in manual labor availability. The farm in Guatemala will use a small-scale farming approach to improve farmers' resilience. The ultimate goal will be to help prepare the world's “coffee belt” for climate changes that could affect agriculture.

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“Through these innovation farms, we will develop solutions that not only improve coffee productivity and quality, but also give farmers the tools and knowledge they need to succeed in a changing world and a challenging climate “says Roberto Vega, Starbucks vice president of global coffee agronomy, research and development and sustainability, according to a statement. “This work is being carried out on behalf of coffee farmers around the world and the findings can be applied to other industries and crops also affected by climate change.”

Starbucks has recently increased its climate investments by testing a new reusable cup program and investing in electric vehicle charging and solar energy.

Contact Joanna at [email protected]