{"id":26449,"date":"2017-11-15T22:46:08","date_gmt":"2017-11-16T03:46:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/digital.hbs.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/starbucks-global-supply-chain-and-climate-change\/"},"modified":"2017-11-15T22:46:08","modified_gmt":"2017-11-16T03:46:08","slug":"starbucks-global-supply-chain-and-climate-change","status":"publish","type":"hck-submission","link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/starbucks-global-supply-chain-and-climate-change\/","title":{"rendered":"Starbucks global supply chain and climate change"},"content":{"rendered":"

Coffee and Climate Change<\/strong><\/p>\n

Starbucks Corporation is an example of a company that will be impacted by climate change. Warmer temperatures and changing rainfall patterns are limiting the Starbucks supply chain at its origin: coffee farmers around the world. Coffee farmers are suffering from decreased quality and yields, as well as increased pests and disease. [[1]<\/a>] For example, wetter, warmer climates are allowing Coffee Leaf Rust to survive at higher altitudes. Coffee Leaf Rust is just one of the diseases impacting the productivity of the million coffee farmers and workers composing Starbucks\u2019 global supply chain. [[2]<\/a>][[3]<\/a>] The Climate Institute estimates that global area suitable for coffee growing will decrease by 50% by 2050. It is expected that coffee production will therefore shift away from the equator and to higher altitudes. [[4]<\/a>] A harmful impact of this shift is that farmers will be compelled to expand into forests, contributing to deforestation and impacting the farmers\u2019 businesses. [[5]<\/a>] The changing climates are also driving significant volatility in coffee prices, which challenges smallholder farmers, many of whom do not have sufficient access to market information, credit, and risk management tools. [[6]<\/a>] \u00a0As one of the largest roasters and retailers of specialty coffee in the world, Starbucks has a significant opportunity to help coffee farmers adapt to climate change. And the company must help farmers adapt to ensure continued supply of coffee in decades to come.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Photo by Mark Daynes via Unsplash<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

R<\/b>esponse from Starbucks<\/strong><\/p>\n

Starbucks is fully aware of the risks its global supply chain faces due to climate change, and is proactively responding with adaptation initiatives. For example, in 2013, Starbucks converted a 240-hectare farm in Costa Rica into a global agronomy research and development center, testing Coffee and Farming Equity practices and developing Arabica coffee varietals with increased productivity and disease resistance. [[7]<\/a>][[8]<\/a>] Going forward, in the short term, Starbucks aims to provide financing to its farmer partners for coffee quality, sustainability, and economic benefit projects via The Starbucks Global Farmer Fund. Since 2014, Starbucks has impacted 47,000 direct and indirect beneficiaries via this Fund, and aims to impact 250,000 by 2020. [[9]<\/a>] Another short-term effort to adapt to climate change is Starbucks’ launching of eight Farmer Support Centers around the world, including centers in Indonesia, Rwanda, and Mexico. At these centers, agronomists and sustainability experts train coffee farmers in topics such as soil management techniques and new varietals of disease resistant trees. Starbucks’ goal is to train 200 thousand farmers by 2020. [[10]<\/a>] As for medium term efforts to adapt to climate change, Starbucks helped to found The Sustainable Coffee Challenge, which aims to make coffee the world\u2019s first sustainable agricultural product. A key initiative of this challenge is to collectively provide 1 billion trees to coffee farmers around the world, of which Starbucks alone is pledging 100 million by 2025. These trees replace those suffering from climate change related productivity decline. [[11]<\/a>]<\/p>\n

Additional recommendations and further questions<\/strong><\/p>\n

There are additional steps that Starbucks can take to adapt its coffee supply chain to climate change. In the short term, Starbucks should develop educational materials for farmers that can be broadly disseminated. Smallholder farmers currently exercise little knowledge sharing and are slow to adopt best practices [[12]<\/a>]. Books, pamphlets, and articles on resilient production systems and shifting plantations to more favorable environments could be distributed via existing touch points between Starbucks and coffee farms, ensuring that the sharing of best practices reaches beyond the 200 thousand farmers benefitting from direct training via the eight Farmer Support Centers.\u00a0 Starbucks could also help establish learning groups among local farmers to facilitate knowledge sharing.\u00a0 In addition to this education and knowledge sharing, Starbucks should consider taking on more of the risk of the volatility of coffee prices due to climate change. By designing longer term contracts featuring stable price agreements, Starbucks can help farmers plan production despite unfavorable effects of climate change.<\/p>\n

In the medium term, Starbucks should expand its investment in research and development of alternative methods of climate change adaptation. \u00a0Potential methods to explore may include building climate controlled facilities for growing coffee, developing green technologies to deter pests and decrease disease, and genetically engineering varietals of Arabica beans.<\/p>\n

Going forward, Starbucks may want to consider more drastic changes, perhaps even purchasing and operating its own coffee farms in more climate-favorable geographies. However, moving towards partial vertical integration certainly raises some questions \u2013 what would be the ethical and economic implications of doing so?<\/p>\n

(745 words)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> The Climate Institute, \u201cA Brewing Storm: The climate change risks to coffee\u201d (PDF file), downloaded from The Climate Institute website, http:\/\/www.climateinstitute.org.au\/coffee.html, accessed November 15, 2017.<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> \u201cPress Release: Starbucks Is Fighting For The Future Of Coffee By Providing 100 Million Healthy Coffee Trees By 2025,\u201dDow Jones Industrial News<\/em>, April 17th<\/sup>, 2017, http:\/\/www.businesswire.com\/news\/home\/20170417005459 \/en\/, accessed November 2017.<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> \u201cStarbucks Strengthens Global Specialty Coffee Supply: Openly Shares More Than a Decade of Research, Verifies 99% of Coffee Ethically Sourced,\u201d Business Wire<\/em>, April 9, 2015, http:\/\/www.businesswire.com\/news\/home\/20150409005213\/en\/Starbucks-Strengthens-Global-Specialty-Coffee-Supply-Openly, accessed November 2017.<\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> The Climate Institute, \u201cA Brewing Storm.\u201d<\/p>\n

[5]<\/a> \u201cPress Release: Starbucks Is Fighting For The Future Of Coffee,\u201d Dow Jones Industrial News<\/em>.<\/p>\n

[6]<\/a> The Climate Institute, \u201cA Brewing Storm.\u201d<\/p>\n

[7]<\/a> \u201cStarbucks expands $70 million ethical sourcing program with new global agronomy center,\u201d Business Wire<\/em>, March 19, 2013, http:\/\/www.businesswire.com\/multimedia\/home\/20130318006738\/en\/, accessed November 2017.<\/p>\n

[8]<\/a> \u201cStarbucks Strengthens Global Specialty Coffee Supply\u201d Business Wire<\/em>.<\/p>\n

[9]<\/a> Starbucks Corporation, \u201c2016 Global Social Impact Performance\u201d (PDF file), downloaded from Starbucks website, https:\/\/www.starbucks.com\/responsibility\/global-report, accessed November 15, 2017.<\/p>\n

[10]<\/a> Starbucks Corporation, \u201c2016 Global Social Impact Performance.\u201d<\/p>\n

[11]<\/a> Starbucks Corporation, \u201c2016 Global Social Impact Performance.\u201d<\/p>\n

[12]<\/a> The Climate Institute, \u201cA Brewing Storm.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As global temperatures warm, Starbucks must help coffee growers adapt<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10008,"featured_media":26450,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","categories":[1218,614,615,17],"class_list":["post-26449","hck-submission","type-hck-submission","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-climate-change","category-coffee","category-starbucks-coffee","category-supply-chain","hck-taxonomy-organization-starbucks","hck-taxonomy-industry-food-and-beverage","hck-taxonomy-country-united-states"],"connected_submission_link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/assignment\/rc-tom-challenge-2017\/","yoast_head":"\nStarbucks global supply chain and climate change - Technology and Operations Management<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/starbucks-global-supply-chain-and-climate-change\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Starbucks global supply chain and climate change - Technology and Operations Management\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"As global temperatures warm, Starbucks must help coffee growers adapt\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/starbucks-global-supply-chain-and-climate-change\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Technology and Operations Management\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2017\/11\/Starbucks-melting.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"938\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"926\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/submission\\\/starbucks-global-supply-chain-and-climate-change\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/submission\\\/starbucks-global-supply-chain-and-climate-change\\\/\",\"name\":\"Starbucks global supply chain and climate change - Technology and Operations Management\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/submission\\\/starbucks-global-supply-chain-and-climate-change\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/submission\\\/starbucks-global-supply-chain-and-climate-change\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/4\\\/2017\\\/11\\\/Starbucks-melting.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-11-16T03:46:08+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/submission\\\/starbucks-global-supply-chain-and-climate-change\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/submission\\\/starbucks-global-supply-chain-and-climate-change\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/submission\\\/starbucks-global-supply-chain-and-climate-change\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/4\\\/2017\\\/11\\\/Starbucks-melting.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/4\\\/2017\\\/11\\\/Starbucks-melting.jpg\",\"width\":938,\"height\":926},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/submission\\\/starbucks-global-supply-chain-and-climate-change\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Submissions\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/submission\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Starbucks global supply chain and climate change\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/\",\"name\":\"Technology and Operations Management\",\"description\":\"MBA Student Perspectives\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"性视界Action\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Starbucks global supply chain and climate change - Technology and Operations Management","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/starbucks-global-supply-chain-and-climate-change\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Starbucks global supply chain and climate change - Technology and Operations Management","og_description":"As global temperatures warm, Starbucks must help coffee growers adapt","og_url":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/starbucks-global-supply-chain-and-climate-change\/","og_site_name":"Technology and Operations Management","og_image":[{"width":938,"height":926,"url":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2017\/11\/Starbucks-melting.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/starbucks-global-supply-chain-and-climate-change\/","url":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/starbucks-global-supply-chain-and-climate-change\/","name":"Starbucks global supply chain and climate change - Technology and Operations Management","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/starbucks-global-supply-chain-and-climate-change\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/starbucks-global-supply-chain-and-climate-change\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2017\/11\/Starbucks-melting.jpg","datePublished":"2017-11-16T03:46:08+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/starbucks-global-supply-chain-and-climate-change\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/starbucks-global-supply-chain-and-climate-change\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/starbucks-global-supply-chain-and-climate-change\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2017\/11\/Starbucks-melting.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2017\/11\/Starbucks-melting.jpg","width":938,"height":926},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/starbucks-global-supply-chain-and-climate-change\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Submissions","item":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Starbucks global supply chain and climate change"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/#website","url":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/","name":"Technology and Operations Management","description":"MBA Student Perspectives","potentialAction":[{"@type":"性视界Action","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hck-submission\/26449","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hck-submission"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/hck-submission"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10008"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26449"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hck-submission\/26449\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26450"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26449"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26449"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}