Starbucks Sued Over Alleged False Ethical Claims

On Wednesday, a consumer advocacy group filed a lawsuit against Starbucks over misleading advertising for claiming that its coffee is ethical in its entirety, even though the company has been sourcing from multiple farms across the world with human rights violations.

According to NBC News, the lawsuit alleges that Starbucks consciously sources coffee and tea from suppliers with “documented, severe human rights and labor abuses,” but its marketing messages on the packaging say its methods are 100% ethical.

The American multinational chain sources its products from a broad range of countries, including Brazil, Guatemala, and Kenya. After Honduras, Guatemala is Central America’s next largest coffee exporter, and its beans are highly sought after by Starbucks.

Speaking to DailyMail.com, a Starbucks spokesperson denied these allegations, saying, “We are aware of the lawsuit, and plan to aggressively defend against the asserted claims that Starbucks has misrepresented its ethical sourcing commitments to customers.”

Sally Greenberg, CEO of the National Consumers League, the legal advocacy group bringing the case forward, said, “On every bag of coffee and box of K-cups that Starbucks sells, Starbucks is heralding its commitment to 100% ethical sourcing. But it’s pretty clear that there are significant human rights and labor abuses across Starbucks’ supply chain.”

The claim highlights that human rights and labor abuses are taking place on specific coffee and tea farms in Brazil, Guatemala, and Kenya, and despite knowing this information, Starbucks has continued to purchase from these suppliers.

Speaking to NBC News, a Starbucks spokesperson said, “We take allegations like these extremely seriously and are actively engaged with farms to ensure they adhere to our standards. Each supply chain is required to undergo reverification regularly and we remain committed to working with our business partners to meet the expectations detailed in our Global Human Rights Statement.”

This is not the first time Starbucks has faced allegations linked to its farming suppliers. In 2020, the company was put in the spotlight with allegations that children as young as 8 were picking coffee beans on farms that were supplying to them. According to British TV Channel 4, which investigated the issue, the children worked around eight hours a day, six days a week in terrible conditions with a very low daily wage that amounted to only a little bit more than the price of a latte from Starbucks. 

In retaliation, Starbucks launched an investigation into the claims and said it had a “zero tolerance for child labor anywhere in our supply chain.” The company also insisted that it did not purchase from the farms highlighted in the investigation during that harvest season. At the time, Starbucks said, “We will not do so until we can verify that they are not in breach of our ethical sourcing program.”