Chapter 02 · Nature, land & waterCoffee, Cocoa & Agricultural Commodities

C.A.F.E. Practices

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Definition

Coffee and Farmer Equity (C.A.F.E.) Practices: a coffee-sourcing verification programme developed by Starbucks with Conservation International, originating in shade-coffee collaboration in southern Mexico. It evaluates coffee farms and mills against scorecards spanning economic transparency, social responsibility and environmental leadership, with inspections performed by third-party verification organisations trained and approved by SCS Global Services.

References

Conservation International"Starbucks" (partnership page)

CI–Starbucks development from southern-Mexico shade-coffee work; verification programme measuring economic, social and environmental criteria; third-party audits trained/approved by SCS Global Services; CI's advisory (non-audit) role and independent results assessments since 2008.

Overview

What it means

C. A. F. E. Practices is the most prominent example of a company-owned commodity sourcing standard: rather than adopting an external certification, Starbucks built its own criteria — quality and economic transparency as prerequisites, then social and environmental performance tiers — while outsourcing verification to independent auditors.

Conservation International advises on the programme and has assessed its results independently since 2008 but does not itself audit. The programme underpins Starbucks' claim that the overwhelming majority of its arabica coffee is "ethically sourced"; critics note the limits of company-defined standards versus independent certification.

How it is used

Starbucks requires C. A. F. E. Practices verification across its arabica supply chain; agronomists and farmer support centres work with suppliers on scorecard compliance; the programme is a reference case in debates over private standards versus multi-stakeholder certification.

Why it matters

C. A. F. E. Practices shows both the power and the accountability questions of buyer-defined sustainability standards in global commodity chains — scale and integration on one side, independence on the other.