Starbucks expands C.A.F.E. with new agronomy center in Costa Rica
Coffee company appoints new global chief marketing officer
Starbucks Coffee Co., Seattle, announced plans to expand its $70 million comprehensive ethical sourcing program with a new farming research and development center in Costa Rica. These programs are part of Starbucks’ ongoing billion-dollar commitment to ethically sourcing 100 percent of its coffee by 2015, the company says.
Starbucks has signed an agreement to purchase the Costa Rican farm through a subsidiary of Starbucks Coffee Trading Co. The terms of the purchase are not being disclosed. Upon final closing in May, Starbucks will adapt the 240-hectare farm located on the slopes of the Poas Volcano into a global agronomy center. The work happening on this farm will enable the company to expand its Coffee and Farming Equity practices (C.A.F.E.), an ethical sourcing model developed in partnership with Conservation International, Arlington, Va., that ensures coffee quality while promoting social, environmental and economic standards.