Comments on: Starbucks Shared Planet: An introductory lesson about ethical coffee sourcing

By: Is Starbucks Profiting From Free Trade or Free Market? « W T F !

Is Starbucks Profiting From Free Trade or Free Market? « W T F ! — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 09:29:33 +0000

[...] its coffee is sustainably grown and processed. If all this information is overwhelming, there is a blog that explains it very well (although it openly supports Starbucks, so it may not be a perfectly [...]

By: Willie

Willie — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 06:47:27 +0000

Hello:)

By: Kat (darkkatpouncing)

Kat (darkkatpouncing) — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 20:49:05 +0000

EXCELLENT!!! I understood the concept of fair trade but hadn’t researched it myself. I didn’t realize that those farmers had to pay a membership fee! I like starbucks developement and use of “Shared Planet” it makes much more success. To me it comes across as farmers are getting recognition for quality vs. quantity

By: Melody

Melody — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 05:26:37 +0000

(Reply to BostonStarbucksRebel) – Coming from you, that is a high praise. Thank you!

By: BOSTON STARBUCKS REBEL

BOSTON STARBUCKS REBEL — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 04:22:37 +0000

I think thats a great blog entry.

By: Melody

Melody — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 00:35:58 +0000

(Reply to CABarista, JP,Akarisame, Rachel,VentiBold, BaristaAkoni, MikeCrimmons, and Hallie) – I definitely appreciate ALL the comments.

On the topic of association fees, I’ve heard that there is one large up front fee to join FT, and then annual much smaller fee thereafter. This really is a big issue for the small farms – If you’re a small farm in Latin America, I bet this feels like paying a major expense.

@MikeCrimmons – I’ve actually heard that there are a number of different kind of certifications that a farmer can go through – One problem for the farmer is trying to get certified multiple times over for varying standards. Confusing.

Keep spreading the word! We need to get both customers and many partners up to speed at least on this kind of basic stuff.

If I could have 30 minutes of Howard Schultz’s time, one thing I would ask about what Starbucks is doing with Conservation International right now. The partnership with them has been ongoing continously since 1998, and in 2008 it was renewed again. I’d like to hear some real specifics about the kinds of things Starbucks and CI are doing together right now…

By: Hallie

Hallie — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 22:36:21 +0000

Thanks for this, Melody. I love, LOVE talking to customers and other partners about the amount of good Starbucks actually does.

By: JP

JP — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 20:15:50 +0000

awesome blog post!

By: Barista Akoni

Barista Akoni — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 19:42:59 +0000

Hey Melody, I can’t thank you enough for posting this. Not a lot of our customers know about Shared Planet and we get questioned a lot why our coffee isnt fair trade. I think this will help clear up the confusion any of customers have. Thanks again.

See you around
-Akoni

By: CABarista

CABarista — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 19:33:17 +0000

that is why I so appreciated this post