United States
Starbucks issued a $1 billion sustainability bond recently to support its efforts in ethical coffee sourcing and its Greener Retail initiative.
“We are very pleased to see that our new Sustainability Bond attracted significant investor interest and was oversubscribed,” Patrick Grismer, Starbucks c.f.o., said in a statement. “The bond demonstrates Starbucks commitment to meaningful, continual progress toward our aspiration of sustainable coffee, served sustainably. It also illustrates a trend toward heavier interest from investors in our socially and environmentally focused projects – in this case supporting coffee farmers and leading in green retail.”
Like previous sustainability bonds, the new money is intended to support ethically sourced coffee. The scope includes purchasing coffee that is verified by Coffee and Farmer Equity (C.A.F.E.) Practices; the continued development and operation of Farmer Support Centers and agronomy research and development centers in coffee-growing regions around the world; and new and refinanced loans to coffee farmers made through Starbucks $50 million Global Farmer Fund.
The bond also will help fund the company’s Greener Retail commitments, including its Greener Stores initiative, announced in September 2017, to design, build and operate 10,000 Greener Stores globally by 2025. The open-source Starbucks Greener Store Framework, which Starbucks developed in partnership with World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and SCS Global Services, focuses on commitments to energy efficiency, renewable energy, water stewardship, waste reduction and more.
Starbucks issued its first sustainability bond in 2016 at a value of $500 million. A 2017 bond totaled $773 million.