Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/1297489
STiR coffee and tea 17 Starbucks Adds Traceability App for Consumers Starbucks coffee consumers curious to know more about what they are drinking can now scan a bag of coffee beans and find out. A new program, Starbucks Digital Traceability, provides information about the coffee each customer buys, including details about region where the coffee was grown. Content also introduces farmers who work and live in that region, as well as roasters who have purchased the green coffee. To access the information, a customer visits the website www.traceability.starbucks.com and scans or enters a product number found on any bag of whole-bean coffee sold at stores in the United States. Customers may use a mobile device or laptop. The new program is part of a continuing effort, launched in 2004, when Starbucks and Conservation International created C.A.F.E. Practices, a nonprofit dedicated to environ- mental protection, that establishes a set of social, economic, environmental, and quality guidelines for how coffee should be ethically sourced. With the new traceability tool, consum- ers receive information to see how their purchase meets those guidelines. "We've always known where our coffee comes from as part of C.A.F.E. Practices, our responsible sourcing program, but now, with this tool, we have the opportunity to transparently share that information with everyone," said Michelle Burns, Starbucks' senior vice president, global coffee, tea, and cocoa. "Every coffee has a story to tell, and I could not be more excited for people to be more connected to the whole coffee experience, from bean to cup, and meet the many people whose hard work, time, and attention makes coffee possible." "What I love most about this tool is how it takes coffee drinkers directly to the places where coffee is grown and to the people who grow it. This is where Conservation International and Starbucks' mission to make coffee truly sustainable began, and where the heart of our work will always be," said Bambi Semroc, Conservation International's senior vice president for sustainable lands and waters. "The traceability tool is more than transparency for the consumer. It's a journey that brings coffee drinkers along with us on our efforts to support the farmers and nature that make coffee possible." Starbucks' new traceability app.