We have deep relationships with many coffee growing communities of Africa. Their health and prosperity are important to us, and through our relationship with Product (RED)™, we have an opportunity to help them thrive. To use our size for good. And to bring our customers new ways to do good every day.

Together we are making a difference

Every time you buy a (STARBUCKS)RED product, or pay with your (STARBUCKS)RED Card, we make a contribution to the Global Fund to help people living with HIV in Africa. With your help, we’ve already generated contribution of more than 487,310 days of medicine in the UK.

What’s your perfect latte at Starbucks? Jess and Laurence are out helping people find their perfect coffee right now. (Along with all our other coffee masters.) Did you know that extras are free in the UK withStarbucks Card Rewards?

To celebrate Earth Day, we’re thanking customers that bring in or purchase their own reusable travel mug or to-go tumbler on Thursday 15th April with a free hot or iced espresso coffee of their choice.

Encouraging customers to use reusable travel mugs will positively impact the planet and will help us reach our Starbucks™ Shared Planet™ goal that by 2015, 100% of our cups will be reusable or recyclable.

Don’t have a tumbler? Don’t worry! A variety of tumblers are available to purchase at your local Starbucks, and you’ll also receive 25p tumbler discount every time you use it.

Terms and conditions: Offer only valid on 15th April 2010. Bring a reusable travel mug or to-go tumbler into you nearest Starbucks Store and enjoy one free espresso based beverage of your choice. At participating stores only, offer valid while stocks last. Offer limited to one beverage per customer per visit. Beverages will be made to Starbucks standard specifications and sizes only. Cannot be combined with any other offers. No cash alternative.

Alongside Arla Foods, we’re pleased to announce the launch of Starbucks Discoveries^® chilled coffees and Starbucks Doubleshot^® espresso drink in the UK. Both are hitting the shelves during April in major retail outlets across the UK. (And in every Starbucks store from May.)

The Starbucks Discoveries range is available in three varieties: Seattle Latte, Aztlàn Mocha Latte (chocolate flavour) and Qandi^™ Latte (caramel flavour). They’re all inspired by the handcrafted lattes from our coffeehouses, and flavours from around the world. We’re also introducing Starbucks Doubleshot, a delicious canned blend of two shots of authentic Starbucks espresso, mellowed with milk and best served chilled.

Starbucks Discoveries and Starbucks Doubleshot are both made using the same high-quality arabica beans we use in store, and they use 100% Fairtrade certified coffee beans and sugar. We’re working on a new page for our website so you can learn all about them soon.

Kate B., departmental coffee master,  Starbucks Support Centre

Some of the coffee growers we work with from Fairtrade coffee farms across the globe are coming to our office in London tomorrow to tell us all about their relationship with Fairtrade, and how this has made a difference to their lives. There’s a live webcast happening on The Guardian website from 3.00-4.00pm; you can even upload your questions for the coffee farmers to answer.

I went to a training session today that will help me make an even better cup of coffee. It really made me think about all the effort our baristas put into giving each drink the care and attention it deserves. When I think about the same care that the farmers take to produce the best quality coffee for us to make these great drinks, I’m blown away. I feel really proud and can’t wait to meet them tomorrow.

Check out the webcast on The Guardian’s website http://bit.ly/cSLUZz

From Harriet Lamb of the Fairtrade Foundation

As we all snuggled-in amid last year’s snow-storms, I watched Hotel Rwanda on TV. My daughter kept checking: was I crying? Or looking away from the horrors of man’s inhumanity to man during the 1994 Rwandan genocide? Instead, she was amazed that I had a stupid soppy little smile on my face. No-one watching that film can fail to be humbled and inspired by its true story of how hotel manager, Paul Rusesabagina, saves over 1,000 refugees from the murdering mobs, showing with endless ingenuity and a deep well of common humanity. That really is having the courage of your convictions.

A few months later, I was in Rwanda with the team from Starbucks. In that small country, with its lush rolling hills and rich red earth, it is hard not be to humbled and inspired by how its people – from senior civil servants to coffee farmers – are pulling together with equally remarkable focus and ingenuity, to tackle the poverty, that blights lives and feeds so many conflicts, to regenerate their economy and rebuild society.

We visited farmers at Dukunde Kawa. They told us how they used just to sell their coffee to the first middle-men who came round their villages at harvest time. Until they discovered that they were ‘being robbed’. So they organised themselves into a group and started selling. Then they realised, that if they washed the coffee themselves (the first stage of coffee processing) they could make more money. Today, many years later, they are proud of their impressive achievements – a major washing station, high quality coffee that is sold to overseas buyers including Starbucks, the special bikes they have bought for the farmers which have a long carrying bit at the back so they don’t have to carry the beans sometimes miles from their hilly farms to the collection points, and investment in schools and health clinics.

And now you too can enjoy those farmers’ coffee as Starbucks is launching a special limited availability single-origin Rwandan coffee this Fairtrade Fortnight. It’s good news for the Rwandan coffee farmers who will be so proud that their coffee is being recognised, and excited about the extra programmes they can undertake in their villages with the premium they earn. And it’s good news for you and me because it really is good coffee. I don’t know what more incentive you need to go and have a special coffee…. Oh ok – so Starbucks are even giving you a Fairtrade chocolate brownie for free on Friday 26th February too! Sounds like a very fair trade for you indeed.

It’s all part of the Big Swap. We’re aiming for people to make a One Million and One Swaps to Fairtrade – swap your ordinary coffee, tea, t-shirt, ice-cream or face-cream, to Fairtrade and register it on our wacky swap-o-meter. Just go to: BigSwap.org.uk because the more you buy, the more the farmers can sell as Fairtrade. So get swapping!

By Alan Hartney, Starbucks UK & Ireland Coffee Ambassador

Over the last four weeks I have made over 1,000 Flat Whites as I have toured around the UK and Ireland training our partners how to make the perfect Flat White. I have visited places like Birmingham, Manchester, Edinburgh, and of course, my home town, Dublin. It was great to spend time with the teams who were only too happy to show off their amazing skills at making Flat Whites (check out this awesome one from Kat in Edinburgh!). Not only did I get to share some tips and tricks, but I have taken some away with me too.

In case you haven’t heard about the new Starbucks Flat White, it comes from New Zealand or Australia (depending on who you talk to) and is made with two shots of our 100% Fairtrade Espresso and some seriously creamy steamed whole milk which makes it a short drink that packs a punch. If you like your coffee strong, you will like this.

It was a really proud moment for me when we took Flat White national on the 25th January. All the hard work, passion and training was well worth it – especially when you see a customer enjoying your creation. It’s been great. I hope you enjoy your Flat Whites as much as we enjoy making them!

Your coffee is more than a shot of espresso, hot milk and some foam. It’s the start to your morning, the kick in your step and a warming finish to a long day. Because your favourite cup of coffee is such a personal experience, shouldn’t it be exactly the way you like it? We think so. That’s why our expert baristas are here to help you find your perfect coffee. Things like whipped cream when you’re feeling decadent or an extra sprinkle of cinnamon to spice up your afternoon. Simple things that add even more character to a great, quality cup of coffee. We’re passionate about crafting your drink, using the finest ingredients from around the world. Your coffee should be perfect in every way, from start to slow, mouthwatering finish. So why not visit a store near you and discover the coffee you’ve been searching for?

We’re proud that all of our Starbucks® Espresso is 100% Fairtrade certified in the UK and Ireland.  This means that all of the coffee in your cappuccinos and lattes is 100% Fairtrade.

Before you wrap your hands around a hot cup of delicious Starbucks® coffee, the coffee itself has passed through many caring hands.  And to guarantee it arrives in the very best condition, we operate with a simple yet demanding principle; ‘everyone must take good care of the coffee.’

Whether it’s the barista who serves you in our coffeehouse, the roaster who brings out the full potential of each coffee bean, the coffee tasters who determine whether the beans make the grade, or the farmers and workers in coffee growing communities who pick the coffee cherries, we aim to inspire everyone to care about the work they do. At the end of the day, it’s all about producing quality coffees for you to enjoy.

That’s why we’re proud to support Fairtrade. It’s not just about feeling good about buying our coffee in an ethical way. It’s about supporting a system where farmers and workers are rewarded for caring about their craft and their community – and inspired to learn and develop good practices that produce high quality coffee beans in socially and environmentally responsible ways.

A cup of coffee is the end of a long journey—from the land, to the farmer, to the roaster, to your eagerly waiting hands. Each step is important in defining what that coffee will taste like. That’s why Starbucks in one of the only coffee companies in the world who sources, blends, roasts, packages and handcrafts their own coffee. It comes down to trust, and when it comes to coffee, we trust the people we know. Walk back along the path with us to see how Starbucks helps make sure a coffee becomes the best cup it can be.

Roasting

The Starbucks Roast® is more than a colour—it’s a philosophy of helping each bean reach its maximum potential.

We started roasting coffee in 1971, and it was the way we approached our craft that created so many Starbucks fans in those early days. Our coffee stood out not only because it was darker, but also because it had more flavour.

You see, most coffee is lightly roasted as a way to cut costs. Coffee loses moisture and weight when it is roasted, which means there’s less to sell afterward. Half a kilogram of coffee loses about 10 to 14% of its weight when it’s handled by a commercial roaster. We roast our coffee a little longer, to bring out more of the flavour. We lose 18 to 25% of the weight in doing this, but the difference in taste is worth it.

The transformation begins when green coffee beans are heated in a large rotating drum. After 5 to 7 minutes of intense heat, the beans turn a yellow colour and smell a little like popcorn. Then the “first pop” occurs—the beans double in size, crackling as they expand. They are now light brown. If you stopped the process here to sample the coffee, you’d taste sour, one-dimensional flavour notes. Those more complex, wonderful flavours haven’t yet developed.

After 10 minutes in the roaster, the beans reach an even brown colour, and oil starts to sweat off their surface. Somewhere between 11 and 15 minutes (it’s different for every coffee), the beans start to develop their full flavour potential. The “second pop” signals the moment is at hand. As the beans are released into the cooling tray, the smell of freshly roasted coffee fills the air along with the sound of applause created by the final clapping of the “second pop”.

Blending

One of the things we enjoy most about the work we do is bringing you great coffees from around the world.

Some we present as single-origin coffees that showcase particular flavours unique to their birthplaces—we’ll talk about those in a moment. The rest we use to create amazing blends, and that’s what we’ll discuss here.

At Starbucks, we might blend a coffee to showcase a particular growing region. House Blend, for example, combines three great Latin American coffees into one blend that exemplifies the best qualities of that region: lively, clean, well-balanced flavours. Gazebo Blend® highlights African coffees—bright, citrusy and great on ice.

Alternatively, we might blend beans from separate growing regions to weave interesting interplays of aromas and tastes. Blends like Caffè Verona®, Gold Coast Blend® and Starbucks® Christmas Blend, offer complex flavours that can’t be found in single-origin coffees by themselves.

Sourcing

It takes a special bean to become a Starbucks® coffee. We sample over 150,000 cups a year looking for the very best Arabica coffees. In the end, only about 3% of the world’s beans makes it into a bag of our coffee.

Starbucks coffee buyers spend about 18 weeks each year visiting coffee growers and suppliers. These relationships are critical to our future success—they solidify our role as champions of quality and progress at every level of the coffee business. It is because of these relationships that Starbucks gets the first pick of some of the world’s best coffee crops. Many of our relationships with farms and suppliers go back more than 20 years.

These relationships are based on mutual respect. In our quest to purchase the best coffee in the world, Starbucks works with farmers to ensure long-term stability within the Arabica coffee market. In order for Starbucks to succeed, farmers must succeed as well. It’s with this belief in mind that we have become the largest purchaser of Fairtrade Certified coffee in the world. In fact, in the UK and Ireland, 100% of the espresso coffee we use is Fairtrade certified. We trust Fairtrade, because Fairtrade trusts no-one. See Starbucks™ Shared Planet™ to find out more about the way we do business responsibly.

Growing

As we slurp coffees in our tasting room, we look for the perfect combination of climate, soil, elevation, and agricultural practices that come together to produce a great coffee.

As we taste coffees, the question we ask ourselves is this: which coffees from a given location best represent the perfect intersection of climate and skilled horticulture? We seek unmistakable regional flavours, what a French wine-maker would call goût de terroir, the “taste of the place”.

Coffees from each of the planet’s three main growing regions have distinctive characteristics:

• Latin American coffees tend to be clean, familiar and friendly, with flavours reminiscent of nuts or cocoa.
• Coffees from Africa/Arabia are extraordinary and enticing, with floral aromas and flavours of berries and citrus.
• Coffees from Asia/Pacific tend to be bold and assertive, full-bodied with earthy and herbal flavours.

Each single-origin coffee we offer exemplifies the best flavour qualities of its region.

We invite you to visit a Starbucks location near you; one of our Coffee Masters will help you discover the flavours of the world in your cup.

The coffees from this side of the planet are big and bold, adventurous and assertive. They tend to be full-bodied, dense with flavours of herbs and earth, and satisfyingly smooth or syrupy in the finish. They are what we think of when we’re asked to name a “coffee drinker’s coffee” – in fact, our baristas most often pick an Asia / Pacific coffee as their personal favorite.

We’ve been batch roasting the finest Arabica coffees since 1971. But there are a few blends in particular that we’re proud to hold up as examples of the roaster’s art.

Fire is the transformative agent for all coffees; each finished bean is a dark, slick phoenix of flavour that arises from the original fruit. The process requires painstaking care – too little or too much heat applied for too long or too short, and the coffee is ruined. In our specialty roast coffees, we let our roasting artists take centre stage in demonstrating their mastery.

If you like your coffees to be on the lush and juicy side, then you’ll have great fun exploring the offerings of Africa and Arabia. Every coffee from this region is flush with flavours of berries, citrus fruits, currants or spice. We definitely recommend making these in a coffee press, so that you can enjoy every note and nuance.