Five Reasons to Boycott Starbucks
April 23, 2024 |
Starbucks. It’s the largest coffee chain in the world, with 20,100 stores, and annual sales of $14.9 billion. CEO Howard Schultz is worth $1.6 billion.
It’s a fortune built for Schultz and Starbucks’ shareholders, by consumers.
But what if consumers stopped buying Starbucks? And instead, bought their coffee from companies that promote fair trade organic coffee, and fair trade cappuccinos made with organic milk?
We’ve been pressuring Starbucks for 12 years, ever since politely asking the company, in a 2002 letter, to change its policies and practices around organics and fair trade.
Apart from one consumer victory —in 2007, when in response to consumer pressure, Starbucks agreed to stop using milk containing Monsanto’s Bovine Growth Hormone—the company has largely ignored consumer demand for organic, non-GMO drinks and snacks.
It’s time to ratchet up the pressure. The OCA is joining with GMO Inside to ask Starbucks (again) to switch to organic milk. Until Starbucks switches to organic and GMO-free, the company remains on our boycott list.
In the company’s 2013 Annual Report, Schultz says, ‘I hope you will agree that we are achieving our goals in ways in which we can all be extremely proud.’
Here are five reasons we think Starbucks has nothing to be proud of.
Photo Credit: Michael Sarver via Compfight cc