Starbucks focuses on Ethical Branding and utilizes CSR principles to create programs such as CAFÉ Practices to ensure the sustainability of their suppliers through investing in the relationships and therefore developing an ethically recognized brand. CAFÉ Practices is a combination of goals and standards that Starbucks and Conservationists International created to support sustainability and improved growing practices for coffee farmers that supply Starbucks (Starbucks Coffee, 2004, 2010).
It involves mutually agreed upon fair pricing, economic transparency, socially responsible buying, and environmentally friendly expectations. These standards protect the farmer’s business and ensure that Starbucks can support their ethical branding with practices that respect the environment. This set of standards is monitored by a third party and attempts to deal with the crises faced by many coffee farmers due to overproduction. Farmers are failing due to some countries overproducing coffee and others producing and exporting coffee that were not in the market 15 years ago (Starbucks Coffee, 2004, 2010).