Starbucks to source coffee from China

[Omaha Steve]

Source: Reuters

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Starbucks Corp (SBUX.O: Quote, Profile, Research), the world's biggest coffee-shop chain, said it planned to source coffee from China for the first time as it expands in a country with more than 5,000 years of tea-drinking culture.

Starbucks has been working with coffee farmers in China's southwestern Yunnan province to help them meet sourcing standards and has sent coffee shipments to the United States for testing, Starbucks China President Wang Jinlong said at the Reuters China Century Summit on Tuesday.

"China does produce some quality coffee," Wang said at the summit, held at the Reuters office in Shanghai.

He added that sourcing coffee from China would start "very soon, maybe in a couple of years".

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/TheChinaCentury07/idUSPEK29984520070904?src=090407_0921_INVESTING_reuters_summit%3A_the_china_century

---

With all the recalls of food from China, I think this is a bad idea.

[Skink]

1. Coffee freaks the whole bunch of em.

[Maraya1969]

28. Good place to mention the Arbor foundation shade ground ,organic,

free trade, rain forest sustainable and reasonably priced coffee. And it tastes great!

http://www.arborday.org/shopping/coffee/index.cfm

[Cha]

80. Thanks...I won't

be stopping in starbucks to get my coffee from China. I'm all about the FairTrade.

[hlthe2b]

2. Starbucks clearly identifies the origin of their coffees...

I also think they adhere to strict standards and oversight... Not that Starbucks doesn't have room for criticism, mind you, but I'd trust Chinese coffee from Starbucks if, I were to buy it anywhere (which is a big IF).

[Nevernose]

22. Do they really identify the country of origin?

I've wondered about that before. I mean, they're technically all "blends," whatever that means, right? And if I buy that dark "blend" from Africa, does that mean that it can be 51% African and 49% Vietnamese or wherever and still be technically African?

To be perfectly honest, I don't go to Starbucks often, usually with friends or something. My conversations usually go something like, "I'd like a large coffee, please."

"You mean a venti?"

"A venti? No, I don't want that, sorry, but I'd like a large coffee if you could."

"Oh, well, 'venti' means 'large' in Italian."

"Oh. Well. Since I neither speak Italian nor live in Italy, could I just have a large coffee, please?"

To be fair: most of my coffee is made at home or at work, mail-order fair-trade, or bought from 7-11 (the quality these days is just as good as Starbuck's), or if someone REALLY wants a doublefrappawhatchathingee, from a local joint that's not as crowded.

[hlthe2b]

25. Their packaging and website gives detailed info ...

on each of their coffees and even the blends gives you all the specific coffees that go into it. Generally blends remain true to the region so that I can't recall a blend that mixes, say Indonesian with African or South American. Starbucks has so much invested in their name, I can say that on this, at least, I'd trust them.

[DainBramaged]

76. Ya know, lots of companies adhere to strict standards

but cheap from the country of cheap who have been growing coffee probably as long at the Vietnamese have been means shitty coffee.

THERE IS NO ASSOCIATION IN THE DICTIONARY BETWEEN CHEAP AND QUALITY!

ONLY TEAMSTERS KNOW HOW TO DELIVER THE GOODS!!!!

[Akoto]

3. I'll have the antifreezuchino with some lead cream on top. n/t

[hlthe2b]

4. snarf!

:rofl:


I wonder if they'll charge more for the heavy metal...

[Cobalt Violet]

10. How many shots of human hair soy sauce do you want in that today? n/t

[Critters2]

15. Would you like the wheat gluten with that? nt

[AwakeAtLast]

20. Naw, but a cardboard bun sounds good!

;)

[DarkTirade]

36. Actually the cardboard bun story turned out to be a hoax.

Just someone's idea of a joke after all the recent hubbub about their products.

[tesla78]

41. The chinese cardboard bun story is NOT a hoax

"(AP) Chopped cardboard, softened in an industrial chemical and made tasty with pork flavoring, is a main ingredient in batches of steamed buns sold in a Beijing neighborhood, state television said.

The report, aired late Wednesday on China Central Television, highlights the country's perennial problems with food safety despite continuing government efforts to improve the situation.

Countless small, often illegally run operations exist across China and make money cutting corners by using inexpensive ingredients or unsavory substitutes. They are almost impossible to regulate. "

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/07/12/health/main3049080.shtml

[sueh]

23. LOL!! I almost sprayed the keyboard while drinking some cola.

Good one!!

[mtnester]

71. Thank you - I like to laugh, and that was DAMN funny

Who has a quick link for a DUzzy nom?

[DainBramaged]

77. OMG I spit out my tea

:applause: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

ONLY TEAMSTERS KNOW HOW TO DELIVER THE GOODS!!!!

[Earth_First]

5. Will they also certify their organic products as "Made in China"? n/t

[Rick Myers]

6. Chinese coffee, now with 30% LESS LEAD!!!

[onewholaughsatfools]

7. and the reason is

for the last 3 years China has been buying all the coffee it can from Columbia and as we all know the chinese drink tea....

[StClone]

19. So can we trust Tea from China?

It would be interesting to see if the Chinese people are dropping like flies or at least have a declining life expectancy. Anyway, my locale Organic Coop sells China grown white tea that I buy by the pound. I am still drinking it -- can 1.3 Billion be wrong?

[onehandle]

8. Ban Chinese Imports!

No more Starbucks for me. A couple of years before they start "sourcing."

[kestrel91316]

9. Are they gambling that we will just forget about all the tainted and poisoned

products coming out of China????

This is way beyond stupid. What kind of fool would knowingly buy Chinese coffee? They don't grow it in China, so they are just the middlemen, and have to make a profit somehow. Cutting it with dried and roasted pig dung comes to mind.

[GirlinContempt]

54. They 'don't grow it in china'?

Pardon?

[kestrel91316]

63. I'm not aware of any coffee-growing regions in China.

Please feel free to post any info you might have on any.

[GirlinContempt]

73. Yunnan, Fujian, Hainan Island

http://www.gokunming.com/en/blog/item.php?blog_id=368

http://www.roastmagazine.com/roasting101/origins_china/navigating.html

http://www.ap-foodtechnology.com/news/ng.asp?id=54982-china-wakes-up
China Agriculture Statistics show that China produced a modest figure of 3,573 tonnes of coffee beans in 1997, but by 2001 this figure was estimated to be13,000 tonnes.

[DinahMoeHum]

11. Screw Starbucks - if you need alternatives. . .go to "Delocator"

Link:
http://www.delocator.net/

They've also got independent bookstores and movie houses.

Oh, and if you still want Starbucks, they have those listed, too.

:evilgrin:

[ShockediSay]

21. I had Newman's Own at McD's this morning

a better choice all the way around.

and who needs leaded antifreeze in their coffee anyway?

[Eurobabe]

47. Newman's Own products are great, all of them

Esp. the coffee, even the decaf. :)

Screw China! :rant:

[DainBramaged]

94. Starbucks, where our breakfast food sucks and so do our cd's

Don't forget to get there early!:sarcasm:

[flamingyouth]

12. It's a horrible idea.

Their coffee is awful anyway, no matter where they get it.

[cliss]

13. I don't trust the Chinese.

I think they use sloppy practices, and they use dangerous products. Their stuff if not to be trusted.

I think they're trying to kill us all so they can move in here and take over the U.S. It's nicer than China which is really polluted and filled up with too many people.

[Historic NY]

14. Stay away from food imports from China..........

The Chinese are going to kill us just like they did with our pets. Heaven knows what chemicals will get mixed into the coffee in processings. Starbucks is trying to maximize profit with cheap labor overseas and high prices here at home.

http://www.starbucks.com/aboutus/

[NYC]

16. Recommended.

[gateley]

17. I just shot off an email to Starbucks announcing my personal boycott. Made ME feel good, anyway.n/t

[OhioChick]

18. "China" and "Quality"

Should not be used in the same sentence.

[kaygore]

24. Really bad timing. Everyone I know is making a point to try to NOT

buy anything made in China. In fact, Sam Walton built his company in part on "Made in America." Now, some smart and well-financed entrepreneur will build an empire bringing manufacturing back to the U.S. and selling only "Made in America."

Poor Starbucks. Very bad timing. They need to fire whoever came up with the idea.

[Pachamama]

26. And with that bit of news, I will have purchased my last cup of Starbucks...

Are they kidding? This has got to be the stupidest decision ever by the company....I think Howard Schultz needs some letters....

:puke:

[Lost4words]

33. same here, no more grande americons for me!

It never stops being about profit does it! Damn corporations are all the same.

[Pachamama]

35. They should call them China Roulettes.....

:eyes:

Yep, profits are everything, the people be damned....

PS: And ofcourse this morning there was another "toy recall" from toys made in China - Lead paint...again....

[Haole Girl]

27. One more reason to buy Kona coffee. nt

[Canuckistanian]

29. Coffee. From China.

Not in a fucking million years would I buy Chinese coffee.

[minnesota_liberal]

30. I'd like a Grande Ice Latte please, with lead and melamine n/t

[Hekate]

31. Ew.When I ask if Mr.H wants his coffee "leaded or unleaded" that's not what I mean. nt

[Pachamama]

37. Eewww is right....I guess I'll stop saying "Leaded" when ordering my Caffeinated Coffee...

:scared:

[Hekate]

39. Good morning Pachamama! How are the Pachababies?

:hi:

Hekate

[Pachamama]

49. Hi Hekate!

Pachababies are good....school has started and we are back in our house again (the one that got flooded in Dec.05 here in Marin County). We finally rebuilt the house and moved back in the last part of this summer. Got the house raised and its ready for whatever Pachamama may send our way...

I'm exhausted, but grateful we got it done....I don't even want to begin about the ridiculous cost of rebuilding. It was running us about $1000 a sq ft....that's obscene...cost of materials keep rising and we live in an area where they charge ridiculous rates for labor. I look at the situation of those poor people in the Gulf Coast who still can't rebuild 2 years after Katrina and I just feel such sadness for them. There isn't a day that doesn't go by where I don't realize how blessed we are to be able to have afforded to rebuild, but it wasn't easy. Meanwhile I just try to keep up with everything including our world's screwed up situation all while keeping my sanity and keeping balanced.

Hope all is going well in your part of the world! :hi:

[Hekate]

57. Life is good.The sea hasn't risen to our doorstep yet,& the Zaca Fire has stopped dropping ash on us

Plus Mr. H and I get to play with our almost-3 year old grandson a lot. It doesn't get better than that. :-)

I'm glad you were able to rebuild --I thought about you and the flood.

Hekate

[dbackjon]

64. My thoughts exactly - now I'd have to order a grande coffee, no lead, heavy caffeine!

[silverojo]

32. Just another reason to hate Starbucks

Whatever happened to the good old days of having a nice cup of coffee at home or at work? This BS of specially-made shopping carts with Starbucks cup containers, and those smelly booths cropping up in grocery stores is getting sickening.

[Taverner]

34. When are they going to sell Vietnamese and Laotian coffee?

That stuff is amazing! Puts Sumatran to shame!

[otohara]

38. Celestial Seasonings Tea Mostly From China

I went on a tour a couple years ago in Boulder and I asked where most of the teas came from and she said China. I then asked, do you trust them are you positive it's organic?

[hlthe2b]

42. What did Celestial Seasons say back to your question?

[otohara]

45. Most What They Buy

comes from China.

[TexasBushwhacker]

44. Most of their tea isn't organic anyway

Only 6 of their teas are organic and they are certified by Quality Assurance International.

[mike_c]

40. it won't make a damned bit of difference....

Starbucks will still over-roast the beans and turn whatever coffee they source into the uniform drek they sell. I cannot believe that people buy that stuff. Sure, maybe it's a step up from the industrial brown fluid sold at many gas stations and convenience stores, but that's about all I can say for it.

[AllyCat]

82. Right on, Mike_c!

My sister is always talking about the best possible brand of everything. I'm continually floored that she buys coffee at Starbucks. She thinks it's really good. I've always thought their beans taste burned, I hate that fake "coffee shop" persona all their staff wear, and their environmental practices are lacking. Uck.

I'd much rather support my nice locally-owned, one-woman shop in my little town. I'll go anywhere but Weedbucks (Chris Rock has forever blazoned that name in my brain). Well, okay, I won't go to McDonalds either. That's just not coffee. I'll go without, thanks.

[xxqqqzme]

43. I only drink Starbuck's shaken green tea lemonade.

I guess I need to know where the lemonade orgins.

[BreweryYardRat]

46. If it's a couple years, I'll be in Washington state by then.

And able to buy from Seattle's Best Coffee. Which is better than Starbucks any day.

[Jansen]

52. SBC is owned by SBUX.

But regardless, the idea that all of the coffee would come from China is ludicrous. If you read the original article you may notice mention of import tariffs. I read it as coffee grown and for sale in China not the US market.

[grasswire]

61. yes, Seattle's Best was bought by Starbucks.

So that won't help you.

[gateley]

89. Do yourself a favor

and when you get to Seattle drink Vivace. They roast their own (the BEST I've found) and treat their employees GREAT -- unlike Starbucks, I've heard.

www.espressovivace.com

[slackmaster]

48. Will the beans be burned beyond recognition before or after leaving China?

:argh:

[Deja Q]

50. Will they try to call it "100% Colombian Pure" anyway?

:hide:

[Greylyn58]

51. I've never liked Starbucks coffee

and now I have another reason not to like it.

Actually, my favorite coffee place is Caribou Coffee. Great coffee and I like their company philosophy.

[treestar]

53. Would you then agree with some other country banning all

imports from the U.S., no matter what they were, because of the tainted chickens that were sold abroad a few years ago?

One product is tainted, so anybody else from that country must be banned, too? Other countries could do that to us. It is unlikely we are perfect and never have bad products.

[Heywood J]

59. You've got to be sarcastic there...

One product is tainted, so anybody else from that country must be banned, too?

One? I think you've fallen asleep somewhere in the 1990s, possibly before.


(In case you were serious, there have been thousands of Chinese recalls in the last ten years. That hardly qualifies as safe, much less one.)

[GirlinContempt]

55. Based on the vast stockpiles of imports from China

I'm amazed there haven't been more recalls, and I'm amazed at the xenophobia and racism.

[eagler]

56. We should be doing no business with China for 3 reasons

1. human rights abuses 2. destruction of American jobs. 3. unfair trade practices

[GirlinContempt]

58. 1. Given

2. Misguided. If that is your concern, you should be doing no business with companies that exploit labour in a variety of countries. It isn't just China, and the fault lies with the people who've moved the jobs, not the people or countries that gain them for a fraction of the wages etc. But also keep in mind, importing and exporting is a 2 way street. Some things come from other countries that you can not produce in your own, and you produce things that others can not. Moving too hardline in an approach to trade can alienate suppliers of necessary items. However, that is not to say that human rights or exploitation should be ignored.

3. I'm not sure which trade practices you mean.

[eagler]

60. I do agree with much that you say - but the concept of a free market

that exists today is anything but that. China should by all means be singled out because they operate on principles alien to a free market. In a nutshell, in China all control flows from the government down to the people. In "democratic" countries control flows from the people to the government. The two are incompatible. The fault does lie with the manufacturers and employers who send their business to China, but these policies are also destroying the middle class in the US and taking away theur very livelyhood.

[GirlinContempt]

72. And that middle class needs to address it

with the companies and local policy.
It's the only way anything can change. Americans have no power in China, but their dollar power and political power at home can count for something.

[DainBramaged]

78. Our power hasn't amounted to a hill of coffee beans for over 12 years

WHO has had control of the government over that time period????

ONLY TEAMSTERS KNOW HOW TO DELIVER THE GOODS!!!!

[GirlinContempt]

91. People with a vested interest in keeping things the way they are.

The average person has way more power than they'd like you to believe. This false idea of powerlessness is the prime way to keep the status quo.

One of the biggest problems is that so much of the middle class seems to continue to cling to the American dream. They don't want to do anything about the rich, because there is still this hope that they might one day too be rich. I'm not sure how to get people to let go of that, but it's just another way to keep people supporting or at the very least ignoring things that are directly and negatively affecting them.

All of this false scapegoating of other peoples, immigrants, and countries just divides the poor and the middle classes power, and distracts from the problems below the surface.

[DainBramaged]

93. What did we as Democrats and the middle class

accomplish since the Republican takeover of the House and Senate in 1994? Did your wages explode exponentially? Did you scale upward and onward in the business world? Did your wages keep pace with inflation or CEOs?

Did the country as a whole gain Union membership, manufacturing jobs, better health care and a reduced poverty rate?

[AllyCat]

83. trade practices outlined in a PBS special a year or so ago

Our government has weakened standards that are required in the U.S. in order to appease China. No wonder American companies move their production over there. I wouldn't be surprised if lead paint is allowed on toys under these new rules. They keep saying "excess amounts". Well, it's not allowed AT ALL here. So excess must mean some IS allowed.

My personal story: I hate Melissa and Doug toys. They market these "safe, wholesome, wooden toys" to the mass-market. Every last piece of it is made in China. When I called them to ask about lead paint being on their toys, the customer service rep kept repeating in some way or another "we comply with all U.S. standards". I finally just asked flat-out: "Is there lead in the paint on your toys?" She would not answer my question. I took that as a "yes" and no longer buy their expensive, Chinese-made crap. Nova Toys are wooden and made in the U.S., Germany, or wherever, but not the pacific rim.

China gets special deals from us. No surprise we can't compete making it here.

[GirlinContempt]

92. You can't compete making it there.

As long as corporations are taking huge profit margins, and people cannot/refuse to pay higher prices, paying poor desperate people shit wages will win.

[katty]

62. Only drink Pete's Coffee--Starbucks tastes like Sanka

[Raine]

66. I think Starbucks bought

Peets Coffee...not totally sure though.

[katty]

69. god, please no

[Raine]

88. GOOD news

read post 84 sounds like (thankfully) I was wrong...sorry for the misinformation I really thought I had read that Starbucks bought them (glad they didn't).

[stimbox]

84. Nope, Peet's is not owned by Starfucks.

I got written up at Peet's when I worked there years ago for talking about forming a union.
Peet's coffee is much better than Starbucks.
Lately I get my coffee from Beantrees, all the beans are organic and most are fairtrade.
http://www.beantrees.com/

[Raine]

86. THANKS

for that info! :thumbsup:

[stimbox]

87. Alfred Peet recently passed away.

RIP

http://peets.typepad.com/?cm_re=hp-_-feature4-_-Image

[jayfish]

65. Is Everyone Else Reading This Story Incorrectly Or Just Me?

Isn't Starbucks talking about sourcing from China for products that are sold in China? They don't say anything about selling Chinese coffee in the US.

Jay

[DainBramaged]

67. I'm going to have to wait till I get home tonight to digest this thread.

I can't wait!!!

TEAMSTERS, THE ONLY WAY TO DELIVER THE GOODS!

[MUSTANG_2004]

68. What a lukewarn recommendation

How's that for a great slogan: "We buy from China. It does produce some quality coffee."

[DainBramaged]

70. DUNKIN DONUTS sells more coffee than Starpukes

They may not have as many stores but they sell more coffee.

TEAMSTERS, THE ONLY WAY TO DELIVER THE GOODS!

[rucky]

75. and damn good coffee at that!

So pipe down you Friends-watching, latte-snuggling, Starbucks-loving pseudo-sophisticates, and go listen to your Fiona Apple.

[rucky]

74. How is this just like the Priest who got busted in the men's room?

News reports everywhere of bad things happening, and a guy/corporation saying "hey, I think I'll try that."

[DainBramaged]

79. Good thread, now if everyone will get behind stopping the onslaught

of untrained un tested mexican truck drivers in un-regulated trucks, we'll all be better off.

ONLY TEAMSTERS KNOW HOW TO DELIVER THE GOODS!!!!

[democrat2thecore]

81. Besides this - Starbucks is a UNION-BUSTING company!! --nt

Here is a link inside the "StarbucksUnion.org" site that lists the labor violations that Starbucks has been slapped with by the National Labor Relations Board. Yes folks, THAT Starbucks. Read it and weep.
http://www.starbucksunion.org/node/712

And by the way:
"The idea that Starbucks workers are paid fairly is a myth created by the company’s public relations machine. Starbucks workers in the United States earn as little $6, $7, or $8 per hour depending on the location."

"On top of the low wage, every single barista in the United States is part-time and not guaranteed any work hours per week. For example, a Starbucks employee can get 35 hours of work one week, 22 hours the week after, and 10 hours the following week. Combine the low-wage with the fluctuating hours and you get a very bleak financial picture for Starbuck workers despite Starbucks’ $23 billion market value and rapid growth. Apparently, a net worth of over a billion dollars is not enough for Starbucks Chairman Howard Schultz."
from http://www.starbucksunion.org/node/1173

Here is the actual settlement document between the NLRB and Starbucks.
They had to eat crow.
http://www.starbucksunion.org/files/usgovsettle.pdf
(.pdf document - feel free to download)

[stimbox]

85. The funny thing about Starbucks in China is that they have a union.

All companies in China including Mall-wart have unions!

Maybe it'll spread over here.

[Phrogman]

90. China just leased a half million hectres from the Philippine government

for agricultural use, wonder if its for coffee cultivation?