C.A.F.E. Practices (Coffee and Farmer Equity Practices) - Starbucks

C.A.F.E. Practices evolved from Starbucks Preferred Supplier Program (PSP). The pilot program called PSP began in 2001. The PSP guidelines were created in partnership with Conservation International’s Center for Environmental Leadership in Business, based on the Conservation Principles for Coffee Production. Since then, Starbucks has made a considerable effort to further define and refine the PSP through extensive contact with growers, processors and suppliers of coffee as well as other concerned stakeholders. C.A.F.E. Practices is a green coffee sourcing program developed in collaboration with Conservation International and Scientific Certification Systems (SCS), a third party evaluation and certification firm.

How does C.A.F.E. Practices work?
C.A.F.E. Practices ensures that Starbucks sources sustainably grown and processed coffee by evaluating the economic, social and environmental aspects of coffee production against a defined set of criteria, as detailed in the C.A.F.E. Practices Evaluation Guidelines. The evaluation of Farmers, Processors and Suppliers against the C.A.F.E. Practices Guidelines is conducted by approved third-party verifiers. These Farmers, Processors and Suppliers form the supply chain for coffee production. C.A.F.E. Practices requires that each component of this supply chain meets the minimum economic, social, and environmental requirements of the C.A.F.E. Practices Guidelines.
The guidelines are structured to verify that produced coffee meets environmental and social performance at each stage of the supply chain - from the plant to the point of shipment. Environmental and social issues are assessed at the farm and at processing mills. Economic accountability is required throughout the entire coffee supply chain. The key issues of economic accountability are financial transparency (how much did participants in the coffee supply chain get paid for their efforts) and equity of financial benefit (did participants in the coffee supply chain receive equitable payment).

Who can apply to C.A.F.E. Practices?
Starbucks has committed to purchase coffee from Suppliers, Processors and Farms who produce coffee that meets the standards of the C.A.F.E. Practices guidelines. Product quality is an essential prerequisite to participation in C.A.F.E. Practices; potential participants first need to submit a sample to Starbucks Coffee Trading Company (SCTC), in Lausanne, Switzerland, in accordance with Section 1.0 (see supplier ops. manual), Product Quality, and have that sample approved.
Prior to engaging in C.A.F.E. Practices, the supply chain to be verified needs to be fully identified and understood. When applying to C.A.F.E. Practices, applicants must list and detail their entire supply network. Typically suppliers are positioned at the top of a large supply network and work with many coffee Producers and Processors simultaneously. It would be cost prohibitive to require that each and every farm be verified as part of the original C.A.F.E. Practices application.
Instead Farms and Processors not holding their own independent C.A.F.E. Practices score within an application’s supply network will be selected for verification using a stratified random sampling protocol established by the verification organization and with the guidance of the C.A.F.E. Practices Verifier Operations Manual (also see small holder supplement for more details) Individual estates, Processors (including their farmer supply network) and producer associations can also receive an independent C.A.F.E. Practices score for their coffee if that coffee is sold as a discreet supply directly or through an agent or exporter. Those producer associations, estates, and Processors can also use that independent score for coffees that are blended and/or contribute to a larger coffee supply network as long as that C.A.F.E. Practices-verified coffee can be accurately quantified and identified at the time of shipment. Individual producers of coffee (e.g. farming entities without any vertical integration or central Processors that cannot characterize their farmer supply network) may not independently apply to C.A.F.E. Practices.


For more information please see www.starbucks.ca and www.scscertified.com