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starbucks
The coffee industry is one based on the super-exploitation of Third World farmers, many of whom live in dire poverty, at the mercy of the weather and a fluctuating market, whilst speculators and corporate heads make obscene profits.
In such an industry it takes a special type of scumbag to stand out: the multinational coffee retail chain Starbucks is just such a scumbag.
In a coffee-producing country such as Tanzania, a coffee growing farmer can earn as little as $15 a year.
Making matters worse, there has been a huge drop in the wholesale price of coffee resulting in massive losses for farmers. For example, there has been a loss of 35% of the market value for East Timor's coffee and wages for Mexican coffee plantation workers have halved.
Coffee, however, is a very profitable commodity, with sales of $18 billion a year. Large corporations are making a killing on the back of Third World farmers. Nestle, for example, made $1 billion from its beverage operations in 2000.
Starbucks is no exception: it has been growing richer. In the first quarter of 2001, Starbucks increased its profits by 40%. In stark contrast to the poverty of those who actually grow the coffee, Starbucks chief and founder Howard Shultz paid himself $2.1 million in 2000.
The US-based Organic Consumers Association (OCA) points out that the $3 people in the United States pay for a latte at Starbucks is equivalent to the daily wage of a Central American coffee picker.
But the Starbucks story is more than just gross profits via super-exploitation. Since the original Starbucks store was taken over by Howard Shultz in 1987, it has spread rapidly across the world. It now has more than 3,300 stores in over 18 countries, leading some to dub it the “McDonald's of coffee”.
As it has grown rapidly Starbucks has also become the focus of many protests and campaigns.
In the United States, the OCA has targeted Starbucks for refusing to ensure their products do not contain recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone (rBGH) and other genetically engineered ingredients.
The controversial rBGH is banned in every industrialized country except the United States. In the US, however, it is injected into 10% of the nation's dairy cows, despite numerous concerns about the safety of its use. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) admitting that its use in cows may lead to increased amounts of pus and bacteria.
There are also concerns about the possible link between rBGH and cancer of the colon. A study into this link was submitted to the FDA but not published because, in their words, it would “irreparably harm” Monsanto, the hormone's giant manufacturer.
It is from this source that most Starbucks outlets in the US get their milk. Thousands of Starbucks cafes and retail outlets are serving lattes, mochas, bottled coffee drinks and ice cream containing milk derived from dairies using this dangerous drug.
As well as the rBGH controversy, Starbucks is also using genetically engineered ingredients in its baked goods, chocolate and the soymilk it uses to make coffee drinks. GE soy lecithin and other soy derivatives, GE corn sweeteners, and GE cooking oil are all used by Starbucks.
Despite its obvious lack of concern for people around the world, whether super-exploited Third World farmers or First World customers whose health it endangers with unlabelled genetically engineered products, Starbucks is not invulnerable to mass campaigns run against it.
Activists scored a big victory in April 2000 when Starbucks announced it would purchase and sell one million pounds of Fair Trade coffee.
Fair Trade coffee is coffee grown by Third World farmers in co-operatives and sold at a reasonable, non-exploitative price. This announcement was the culmination of a mass campaign that included an open letter signed by 84 organizations and 29 national demonstrations. Starbucks even went so far as to make Fair Trade coffee its “Coffee of the Day”.
Though pleased at this victory, which has greatly boosted the fortunes of Fair Trade coffee, activists in the US are not resting on their laurels.
They point to the token way Starbucks has used Fair Trade coffee, with it amounting to a tiny percentage of the overall amount of coffee it purchases. Activists are now demanding that Starbucks buys much larger quantities of Fair Trade coffee and that it is made “coffee of the day” every week.
The basic lesson is, if you want a scumbag to listen, you've got to fight. If you want more than concessions, you've got to keep fighting.
The article above was written by Stuart Munckton, an activist with the Australian group Resistance.
