Comments on: Starbucks’ Shared Planet

By: Starbucks Shared Planet Tumblers & Marketing | Greenwashing News and Information: The Greenwashing Blog

Tue, 18 Jan 2011 02:51:09 +0000

[...] opens a LEED certified coffee plant. That is good news in my opinion. -Make Wealth History points out the irony or trademarking “sharing.” -The Times Online points out a couple [...]

By: When brands win hearts and minds they have nothing to lose

When brands win hearts and minds they have nothing to lose — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 16:09:44 +0000

[...] Starbucks, Ford and Walmart are just a few of the major brands who have embraced this role because its good [...]

By: What to do when good brands make bad things? Or bad brands do good?

What to do when good brands make bad things? Or bad brands do good? — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 08:08:02 +0000

[...] power of the Pepsi Refresh Project, Starbucks Shared Planet, Ford’s Invisible People, Nike’s Livestrong, Target Bullseye, Walmart’s [...]

By: Starbucks Shared Planet Tumblers & Marketing | The Greenwashing Blog

Starbucks Shared Planet Tumblers & Marketing | The Greenwashing Blog — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 19:45:38 +0000

[...] local coffee shop. -Starbucks opens a LEED certified coffee plant. That is good news in my opinion. -Make Wealth History points out the irony or trademarking “sharing.” -The Times Online points out a couple [...]

By: Starbucks to double their Fairtrade purchase « MAKE WEALTH HISTORY

Starbucks to double their Fairtrade purchase « MAKE WEALTH HISTORY — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 11:04:06 +0000

[...] is the kind of commitment I was hoping for when I saw Starbucks had launched their new ethical initiative, Shared Planet. Why they chose to roll that out in association with [...]

By: Choose your words carefully « MAKE WEALTH HISTORY

Choose your words carefully « MAKE WEALTH HISTORY — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 17:34:34 +0000

[...] that Starbucks had launched a new ethical espresso. I got into work and fired off a quick post. I wasn’t particularly complimentary. The line ‘good for Starbucks for smartening up their practices’ did appear in the [...]

By: SBUKBW

SBUKBW — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 09:43:50 +0000

it’s just trademarking a phrase….to protect that umbrella and certification system. A name that’s all. I could trademark ‘my big knob’ if I wanted to, then shall we all debate i’m not allowed to as other people have big knobs too?

By: Starbucks A fair-trade coffee, Shared Planet espresso critized | Coffee break and review...

Thu, 25 Sep 2008 16:52:51 +0000

[...] Make wealth history also wrote “Shared Planet ™ is an oxymoron to trademark sharing? You can’t lay corporate claim to the fact that we are co-habitants of planet earth. Or do they just mean sharing on their terms, and their own definition of ‘ethical’?” [...]

By: Bluesamboy

Bluesamboy — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 15:27:07 +0000

Angryafrican
WooHoo! For once someone who actually knows his stuff about coffee purchasing. Real Starbucks customers have know their buying policy for years. You’re right Starbucks isn’t perfect but as its grown its tried to do the right thing by everybody. It doesn’t always get it right but for a company of that size I think its great.
As for Black Gold, I went to a screening of that and afterwards the guy who made it just kept going on and on about Starbucks; it was like he had some obsession with it and got really annoyed when i pointed out Starbucks only buys 2% of world production and wouldn’t his efforts be better focussed on the really big guys like Neslte, P&G and Kraft.
Angryafrican, thanks for being so informative, i’m gonna have to let my local Starbucks know this web link!
Cheers!!!

By: angryafrican

angryafrican — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 11:41:51 +0000

@Jeremy. I couldn’t agree more. There will be holes in very system. Nothing is perfect. We cans strive and drive for it, but it will never be perfect. Let me give you two examples.
1. I worked with a few Ethiopian coffee farmers on a Fairtrade deal and they complained to me that they can’t understand what the certification is doing and what they are paying. Why? Because the certifier was German and wrote everything in German without explaining it to them.
2. While campaign for Oxfam we had one of our cooperative allies complain that they were only getting paid 50 cents by Starbucks and not what Starbucks said in their CSR report. We jumped on this! But it then came out that it wasn’t Starbucks buying the coffee it was Fairtrade. Starbucks bought the coffee from Fairtrade but also did additional work with the farmers. Starbucks was upset because they didn’t know the farmer got paid so little. You see, the Fairtrade system breaks the amount of $1.26 per pound into 3. One for the farmer, one for the cooperative and one for a “social project”. So in some cases the farmers get a very small amount of what is advertised. Not criticising, just saying that no system is perfect and there will always be holes. My biggest judgement is whether a company or initiative is willing to admit that it isn’t perfect and truly try to make it better. And both Starbucks and Fairtrade do that – they try to make it better. Not perfect. But they plug the holes as quickly as they can.
On Black Gold. You should ask Fairtrade people who have worked with that farmer what they think of him. He heads up a cooperative so not strictly speaking the “farmer” we think of. He isn’t the most honest guy around. And go see what farmers in Ethiopia and Rwanda and other places are saying about Starbucks compared to say Kraft or P&G. Worlds apart. You want to find someone unhappy? Hell, I worked for Oxfam and I am unhappy!
Lastly, sorry if I came across a bit over the top. Not meant to be like that. You are one of the good guys. Never stop probing and questioning. I know that the companies that really do care don’t mind that. They are open to talking and trying to fix it. I’ll give you the 5 companies that I think embody that – Starbucks, Levi’s, Timberland, Tiffany’s and Marks & Spencer. None of them are perfect. But I know that they are always willing to give it a shot. I have worked with most of them in the past. They are pretty good. Not perfect, but as good as we have at the moment.
Aluta continua!