April 5, 2000

Dear Howard Schultz,

We, the undersigned organizations, represent a diverse group of environmental and economic justice organizations, churches, unions, consumer groups, and others who are concerned about the trade issues in general and the wages and living conditions of coffee farmers in particular. We are writing to strongly urge that you purchase coffee that is Fair Trade Certified.

About half of all coffee worldwide is produced by small farmers. These farmers own and farm their own small plots of land, but have little to no control over the export system for their coffee. Free trade in the coffee industry means farmers generally receive between $.30-50 per pound of coffee that retails for as much as $10-12 per pound in gourmet coffee markets, including those of Starbucks. Small farmers working without the benefit of an organized export cooperative are forced to sell to exploitative middlemen who generally pay them less than half of the export price. This export price is based on the New York "C" Contract spot price and is usually around $1 per pound, but fluctuates wildly.

Fair Trade seeks to correct these imbalances by setting a minimum price per pound--a living wage. This international Fair Trade price, $1.26 per pound, is set by the Fair Trade Labeling Organizations International (FLO) which includes representatives of farmer cooperatives. When market prices are below $1.26 per pound, as they have been for most of the last decade, the farmers still get the minimum price--a living wage. Rather than operating on a charity model, where donations are made based upon net profits of a company, Fair Trade changes the entire business model to include fair wages for workers as an integral part of the business arrangement.

TransFairUSA is the national monitor that certifies importers and roasters here in the US. They are the US branch of the FLO, which includes monitors from 17 different countries. The International Fair Trade Registry certifies over 300 cooperatives in 20 different producer countries, representing over 550,000 farmers worldwide. Fair Trade means health, education, community development, and economic justice for farmers around the world.

In the post-WTO climate, more people are demanding that corporations pay living wages to ALL who make their products, whether or not they are directly employed by the company. After years of sweatshop exposes and increased global labor struggles, most people in this country would rather buy a product produced under fair trade conditions than sweatshop labor conditions. Sweatshops can occur not only in the factory but also in the field.

According to recent consumer study, 78% percent of consumers would rather purchase a product associated with a cause about which they believe, and 54% say that they would pay more for a product that supports their cause. A consumer study by TransFairUSA in 1997 revealed that 49% of specialty coffee drinkers surveyed said they would buy Fair Trade coffee.

With regards to the treatment of coffee workers, a recent study by the Commission for the Verification of Corporate Codes of Conduct, only half of the workers on coffee plantations in Guatemala earn the minimum wage of $3/day mandated by Guatemalan law. They found access to water, shelter, and education minimal; only 13% of children of plantation workers completed primary education. Another recent investigation found cases of armed repression of labor organizers seeking to improve wages for coffee plantation workers. Building one clinic or a couple of schools are good measures--yet they do not address the basic need to pay workers a fair wage, allow them to freely organize, and universally implement a Code of Conduct that is independently monitored. Despite Starbucks attempts at developing a Code of Conduct and pilot implementation in Guatemala, conditions--especially wages--are not to acceptable levels for a company that is growing at a rate of more than one new retail store a day.

Fair Trade also addresses important environmental issues that are important to consumers today. About 85% of Fair Trade Certified coffee is shade grown and either passive or certified organic. We believe that small farmers are the best stewards of the land, using traditional farming techniques. Paying farmers a fair wage for their crops with incentives for ecological practices is the best way to encourage sustainable farming.

Starbucks is the largest retailer of gourmet coffee in the country. Your 1999 Annual Report shows revenues of $1.7 billion and profits of $164 million last year. Yet the farmers and workers who make you rich still earn poverty wages. They have not benefited from the gourmet boom.

We strongly urge Starbucks to offer consumers the choice to buy Fair Trade Certified coffee (on an on-going basis) at every one of your over 2300 stores nationwide, plus your other retail sites, including 500 schools. We urge you to implement your Code of Conduct and have it independently monitored to ensure that all the coffee workers who pick your beans earn a living wage.

Sincerely,

Global Exchange

AFSCME District Council 36
Aid Through Trade
Alliance for Democracy
Alliance for Sustainable Jobs and Environment
As You Sow
Association for Fair Trade with Cuba
Campaign for Labor Rights
Campus Labor Action Coalition
Center for Campus Organizing
Center for Economic and Policy Research
Center for Third World Organizing
Change, Richard Stockton College of NJ
Cincinnati Zapatista Coalition
Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador, NY
Depauw University Russell J. Compton Peace and Justice Center
Development
Development GAP
EPICA
East Timor Action Network
Environmental Affairs Board, Associated Students, UCSB
Fair Trade Resource Network
Farm Labor Organizing Committee
FarmCity Alliance
FarmFolk/CityFolk Society
Fellowship of Reconciliation Task Force on Latin America and the Caribbean
Fresno County Green Party
Friends of the Earth
Global Marketplace
Global Sweatshop Coalition
Green Party of Rhode Island
Guatemala Human Rights Commission (USA)
Guatemala News and Information Bureau
Harvey Milk Democratic Club
Hawaii Sustainable Lifestyle Network
Hopedance Magazine
Human Rights Action Service
Institute for Agricultural and Trade Policy
Institute for Food and Development Policy: Food First
Interhemispheric Resource Center
International Alliance for People's Movements
International Forum on Globalization
International Law Students Association, CUNY
JustACT: Youth ACTion for Global JUSTice
Kitsap County Activists
Latin America Solidarity Committee Aotearoa/New Zealand
Made By Hand International Cooperative
Marin Center for Peace and Justice
Maryland United for Peace & Justice, Inc.
Mexico Solidarity Network
Missionaries of Africa
Mothers & Others for a Livable Planet
Network in Solidarity with the People of Guatemala
Nicaragua Center for Community Action
North Sumatera Peasant Union
Northwestern University Students for Ecological and Environmental
Organic Consumer Associates
Pax Christi USA
Progressive Student Alliance, Cal Poly
Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch
Quebec Public Interest Research Group
Rainforest Action Network
Rainforest Relief
Redefining Progress
Sacramento County Green Party
Saint Peter Damien Fraternity of the Secular Franciscan Order
San Francisco Tenants Union
San Jose Peace Center
Save the Redwoods/Boycott the GAP
Seattle Women Act for Peace
Site for Social Action
Student Alliance to Reform Corporations (STARC)
Student Environmental Action Coalition
Students United for a Responsible Global Environment (SURGE)
Trade Aid New Zealand
Transnational Resource and Action Center
U.S.A./Cuba Infomed
Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations
United Students Against Sweatshops
United Students Against Sweatshops, SFSU
United for a Fair Economy
University of Wisconsin -- Madison Greens
WUSC Global Justice Group at the University of Alberta
Washington Office for Faith in Action
Washington Peace Council
Women's Edge
YES! Youth for Environmental Sanity