Starbucks furthers commitment to sustainable dairy

At Starbucks, we’ve always been committed to working alongside communities to help people thrive and protect the planet. Since the introduction of our first Caffè Latte in 1984, cow’s milk has been an integral ingredient for the company. As a company that works with and relies on the farming community every day, we have a responsibility to help drive solutions to reach our resource positive goals, support farmers and help ensure a sustainable future of dairy.  

Collaborating with farmers to help support a sustainable future is work we’ve done before. Just as with our coffee, Starbucks goal is for the dairy we buy to be produced under high quality and responsible practices.

Over the past few years, Starbucks has been partnering with dairy cooperatives and farmers to implement solutions across our supply chain and is positioned to expand within its company-operated markets around the world. In China, Starbucks is collaborating with The Nature Conservancy to engage farms in sustainability initiatives like carbon assessments and improvement projects.   

In November 2023, Starbucks awarded over $3.1M in cost-share funding to seven California dairy farms participating in the Sustainable Dairy Program. This funding supports eighteen new dairy farm practices and projects, aiming to ensure a sustainable future for dairy. Some examples of these projects include: 

• Support for manure digester infrastructure and installation to convert methane emissions from manure to renewable natural gas;
• Planting of cover crops to increase carbon capture, improve soil water holding capacity and enhance plant health;
• Purchase of Monarch electric tractors to reduce GHG emissions on fossil fuel consumption while utilizing on-site solar power for charging;
• And investments in water project funding to measure and reduce water use and reliance on the underground aquifer and increasing surface water use.

The projects represent a significant decrease in total carbon reduction contributing to our efforts to cut our carbon footprint in half by 2030 and continuing support for dairy farmers on their sustainability journey. 

In addition to the support farmers receive through the Starbucks Sustainable Dairy Program, Starbucks is also leveraging those dollars to support farmers through additional grant opportunities. MDVA is a key dairy supplier for Starbucks and has made great strides in the program this past year. They will be the next set of cost-share fund recipients in 2024 in the United States. 

"Starbucks Sustainable Dairy Program has made a real difference on our member farms - Starbucks is not only bringing resources to our members but providing leadership and direction to help shape a new dairy supply chain where there is a shared responsibility from farm to customer for the environmental impact of dairy. With strategic investments in best management practices, dairy has the opportunity to be an environmental solution and gain the confidence of our dairy consumers in our sustainability journey." Lindsay Reames, Executive Vice President, Sustainability & External Relations, Maryland & Virginia Milk Producers Cooperative.  

“White Rock Farms LLC chose to participate in this program because we are proud of the milk we produce and the practices we follow. This program supports our endeavors to farm in a sustainable way that reflects the values of our farm, Starbucks, and our customers,” said Roddy Purser. 

By the end of this fiscal year, Starbucks plans to continue to drive methane reduction and expand enrollment in its Sustainable Dairy Program to 100% of the company’s U.S. dairy supply chain.  

In addition, Starbucks has joined the Dairy Methane Action Alliance (DMAA) led by The Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) to create a dairy methane action plan and report on global dairy methane emissions for Starbucks company-operated fluid milk supply. 

Most recently, Starbucks Canada announced a collaboration with Dairy Farmers of Canada to help accelerate environmental stewardship on Canada’s dairies with an investment of $500,000 to support dairy sustainability-focused projects over the course of this year, rewarding the continued efforts of Canadian dairy farmers on their path to net zero. 

Starbucks Sustainable Dairy Program 

Toward that effort, in 2022 Starbucks launched its Sustainable Dairy Program in the United States, designed to advance environmental stewardship, help enhance farmer and workforce conditions, and help ensure the quality care of animals. The program provides farmers with tools and information to help ensure a more sustainable dairy industry for future generations, including:  

• Financial incentives for continuous improvement in the areas of environment, workforce and animal care, as well as annual cost-share funding to support implementation of practices that reduce greenhouse gas emissions like methane.  
• Technical support and assistance specific to carbon and water footprint reduction that will help solve priority issues for dairy farms and communities. For example, in California, Starbucks invested in water meters for farms to help monitor water use and set water reduction goals.  
• Workforce training in partnership with DairyKind to improve animal handling and reduce on-farm injuries and incidents.  
• Self-assessment tools in partnership with the Equitable Food Initiative to provide management systems support that help dairies elevate a culture of continuous improvement while providing their workforce with stable and professional working environments. 

To date, farms representing 100% of the dairy we purchase in California through the California Dairies Inc. cooperative have joined the Starbucks Sustainable Dairy Program. We’ve completed carbon baseline activities and the evaluation of social, environmental and animal care practices on the majority of participating farms in California, Oregon, and Washington. By the end of this fiscal year, we plan to have over 60% of our U.S. supply chain participating in the program.  

Collaboration has been key for Starbucks to implement the program on dairy farms, including partnership with SCS Global Services, who helped tailor a whole farm assessment model that fits the Starbucks dairy supply chain, and Sustainable Environmental Consultants, who have partnered to collect and analyze environmental data from dairy farms and support the development of continuous improvement plans to reduce carbon emissions.  

U.S. Dairy Net Zero Initiative

In 2020, Starbucks joined the U.S. Dairy Net Zero Initiative (NZI), a partnership of the U.S. dairy community working to accelerate industry-wide progress toward achieving greenhouse gas neutrality and improvements in water conservation and quality on farms.  

Through NZI, Starbucks partners directly with farmers in our supply chain and has committed to invest $10 million toward the research and implementation of new practices in feed production to manure management, nutrition and on-farm energy efficiency with the goal of providing farmers with technology and environmental practices. 

An example of how this partnership comes to life is a pilot with Alliance Dairies in Florida implementing a full suite of technologies and practices across several workstreams to demonstrate outcomes that are economically viable and sustainable with the potential to eliminate up to 25% of feed loss, reduce carbon, increase renewable energy and decrease diesel use. The learnings from this pilot will be shared to help more farmers and support impact at scale.

In partnership with the University of Florida, NZI is conducting an enteric methane study determining the ability of daily feed intake and enteric methane emissions measurement to detect reductions in methane production expected from utilizing a feed additive called Rumensin. Additional feed additives are also being vetted for testing to increase the options available for farmers. Results from this work will help to ensure that enteric mitigation practices are effective and economical in a controlled research environment before applying these practices on the farm.