On Wednesday, Starbucks faced a lawsuit from a consumer advocacy group, alleging that the company's assertion of ethically sourced coffee is false and deceptive.
The National Consumers League referenced media reports detailing abuses on farms that provide coffee and tea to Starbucks. They argued that these incidents raise questions about the accuracy of Starbucks' packaging claim, which states that the company is “committed to 100% ethical coffee sourcing.”
On Wednesday, Starbucks acknowledged the lawsuit and stated its intent to “aggressively defend against the asserted claims.” The lawsuit has been filed in the Superior Court located in the District of Columbia.
The lawsuit referenced various incidents, including one from 2022, in which 17 workers, including three teenagers, were rescued by the police from a coffee farm in Brazil. These workers were reportedly forced to work outdoors without protective gear and were tasked with lifting 130-pound sacks of coffee. The case was covered and reported by Repórter Brasil, a group of journalists dedicated to investigating labor rights and environmental concerns.
On Wednesday, Starbucks stated that it lacked any information regarding that specific case.
“We take allegations like these extremely seriously and are actively engaged with farms to ensure they adhere to our standards,” the company said.
The lawsuit also makes reference to a 2023 BBC report that uncovered widespread sexual abuse and harsh working conditions at the James Finlay tea plantation in Kenya. At the time of the report, James Finlay was a supplier to Starbucks, but Starbucks confirmed on Wednesday that it no longer sources tea from that plantation.
Starbucks purchases approximately 3% of the world's coffee supply and collaborates with over 400,000 farmers in over 30 countries, as stated by the company.
Starbucks established ethical sourcing guidelines in 2004 and relies on third-party verification to assess conditions at its supplier facilities. The company maintains a zero-tolerance policy for child labor and mandates that farmers offer a safe, fair, and humane working environment.
However, the National Consumers League alleges that Starbucks misleads consumers by not disclosing that its certification program does not guarantee ethical sourcing.
The group has filed a court petition seeking to prohibit Starbucks from engaging in deceptive advertising practices and to mandate a corrective advertising campaign.
“Starbucks’ failure to adopt meaningful reforms to its coffee and tea sourcing practices in the face of these critiques and documented labor abuses on its source farms is wholly inconsistent with a reasonable consumer’s understanding of what it means to be ‘committed to 100% ethical’ sourcing,’” the group said in its court filing.
