Starbucks, often seen as an average American’s first stop every weekday morning, participates in trading the world’s second most valuable commodity, the first being oil. In recent years, Starbucks has been subtlety making their Fair Trade coffee options known to consumers. This was due to a new standard that many consumers demanded from the world’s largest coffeehouse chains. Fair trade is an organized approach that allows for less economically developed countries (LEDC) to have improved trading conditions and to promote sustainability. The main focus lies in the exporting of these commodities (coffee in this case) from LEDC’s to more economically developed countries. With Fair Trade certified coffee, the consumer can be assured that the farmers have received a standard wage for their work, and no child or forced labour was included in the process of farming the coffee beans. Even after Starbucks publicly declared that they will carry Fair Trade coffee products, they currently offer only a limited quantity. This quantity also excludes most of the by-the-cup coffees brewed by baristas around the world. Whether this is due to the poor management of the corporation, or the unwillingness of the company to provide more Fair Trade coffee because of the increased production costs, the ethical implication of their actions are reflected by the forced labour process and unfair wages by which they obtain their coffee beans.

Source:
Kloer, Amanda. “Starbucks Ignores Customer Demands for More Fair Trade Coffee”
change.org. 09 Jan 2011. Web. 13 Sept 2011.
<http://news.change.org/stories/starbucks-ignores-customer-demands-for-more-fair-trade-coffee>