June 26, 2001

A double-tall protest of Starbucks

SEATTLE (AP) -- Starbucks President Orin Smith was not really surprised to learn his company was to be the target of nationwide protests Monday and Tuesday by the Organic Consumer Association -- despite the coffee retailer's previous pledge to meet many of the group's demands.

"We are, I guess, in some ways accustomed to being front and center on some issues that I don't think we own," Smith said from his office Monday. "But it is the price of being so visible."

The consumer group, which wants Starbucks to stop using milk and other foods with genetically modified ingredients, concedes the hugely popular coffee retailer is far from the worst offender.

In fact, Seattle-based Starbucks has made clear it agrees with the OCA on many issues. It plans to offer milk free of genetic tinkering at its more than 2,700 U.S. stores by the end of July.

But the advocacy group, which has a staff of just 13 and is based in Little Marais, Minn., says Starbucks is still the best tactical choice.

"We believe that Starbucks is the weakest link in the chain because their customer base cares about the environment and cares about social justice and cares about their health," explains organizer Ronnie Cummins.

Starbucks is well aware of its customer base.

In March, on the eve of another planned OCA protest, Starbucks pledged to begin offering milk free of genetically modified ingredients such as bovine growth hormone -- responding, it said, to customer concerns.

But the company is no stranger to the hot seat.

One of its downtown stores here was trashed during the 1999 World Trade Organization uproar.

When San Francisco-based Global Exchange pressed Starbucks last year to sell "Fair Trade" coffee -- coffee grown in areas believed to have better working conditions -- Starbucks began offering the beans at its stores.

Last week, Starbucks was the target of a Seattle protest over the shooting of a black man by a white police officer.

On Tuesday -- in addition to the organic coalition demonstrations -- the company is to be the target of an anti-corporate globalization protest in San Diego.

And, in the San Diego suburb of Ocean Beach, the company is facing opposition from townspeople who don't want to see a brand name coffee shop on their locals-only main street -- although a Rite-Aid and a Jack In the Box are located off the main drag.

They, too, say Starbucks is a symbol of something greater.

"I don't have anything against Starbucks, per se, but it represents the changing face of America. I fear there will be no more family-run businesses," said Jordan McMullin, 25, a student living in Ocean Beach.

In many instances, the company has tried to work with protesters -- in fact, a meeting with the OCA is scheduled for later this week.

The company does not want to fight with the OCA or anyone else, Smith said.

"I don't care to battle these things, especially when there actually is some alignment of interests," he said.

The OCA concedes that Starbucks has said it will meet many of the group's demands, but says it wants action faster.

Starbucks is still on track to offer the option of hormone-free milk by the end of July.

But Smith said the company -- one of the nation's largest milk users -- has determined it will be more difficult than expected to move on to the next step: using hormone-free milk exclusively.

Bovine growth hormone, also known by the scientific name of recombinant bovine somatotropin (rBST), is injected in cows to increase the amount of milk they produce. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has said milk containing bovine growth hormone is safe for human consumption. Critics contend too little is known about the health and environmental effects of this and other biotech products.

The main problem for Starbucks is that rBST-free milk is typically mixed with other milks before market, Smith said. Finding a supply of untainted milk -- a supply that can meet Starbucks' enormous needs -- will be costly and difficult.

Cummins dismisses these details.

"If a company that size wants something, they can get it," he says, adding that he believes Starbucks is being pressured by other large companies, such as Kraft and Pepsi, not to offer rBST-free milk.

Not true, Smith says, although Starbucks has heard from some industry groups promoting the merits of genetically modified foods.

"But you know, neither one of those things in the long run will affect our policies," Smith said. "We are focused on our customers and if some of our customers want this then we are going to provide this."

The OCA wants all of the food served at Starbucks to be free of genetically modified ingredients. It wants Fair Trade coffee offered one day a week as Starbucks' coffee of the day.

Smith said there simply isn't a big enough Fair Trade coffee for that -- at least not enough that meets Starbucks' quality standards. The company is working with Fair Trade to increase the quality and supply, he said.

But Smith will likely have a long way to go before these battles are over.

"You pressure the marketplace leaders," Cummins said. "Starbucks is a marketplace leader."