Starbucks C.A.F.E. Practices
Our client SCS works closely with Starbucks to develop and audit their
C.A.F.E. Practices program. Here’s how Starbucks defines the program:
“C.A.F.E. Practices helps ensure that the coffee Starbucks purchases is
grown and processed in a sustainable manner by evaluating the social, environmental
and economic aspects of coffee production. The guidelines include 28 indicators
against which suppliers (farmers, cooperatives, processors, and exporters)
are evaluated.”
We worked closely with Starbucks, SCS and our development partner GreenRiver.org
to create an online tool that migrated the evaluation process from an outdated
spreadsheet workflow to an online environment. The Web application interface
we created is used up and down the supply chain. Coffee suppliers in Africa,
coffee purchasers in Switzerland, agronomists in Costa Rica and managers
at Starbuck’s home office in Seattle all use the tool we developed. For
this reason, our design had to be simple and effective across a wide range
of browsers and internet connections. The design also had to accommodate
large amounts of historical data going forward and scale effectively for
a company of Starbuck’s size.