SEATTLE — Starbucks has purchased a 240-hectare Costa Rican farm, which will expand the company’s ethical sourcing program by providing a new farming research and development centre.
“This investment, and the cumulative impact it will have when combined with programs we have put into place over the last forty years, will support the resiliency of coffee farmers and their families as well as the one-million people that represent our collective coffee supply chain,” said Howard Schultz, Starbucks chairman, president and CEO. “It also opens up an opportunity for Starbucks to innovate with proprietary coffee varietals that can support the development of future blends.”
The farm will facilitate global agronomy research and development, strengthen climate change mitigation and the company’s long-term crop stability program, support billion-dollar commitment to buying 100 per cent ethically sourced coffee by 2015 and allow for the development of coffee varietals in support of new, innovative blends.
The terms of the purchase are not being disclosed, and, upon final closing in May, Starbucks will immediately evolve the location into a research and development facility. The farm is located on the slopes of the Poas Volcano.
