Some months ago, when this subject first came up, some individuals had
contacted Starbucks about the issue of shade grown coffee. The reply from
Starbucks, as I remember, was vague as to whether they were trying to buy
from primarily shade-growing plantations, but had the qualifier thrown in
that they (Starbucks) only controlled about "10%" of the world market--the
implication being that they (Starbucks) wouldn't have much clout anyway,
so why bother.

My personal feeling about the memo was that Starbucks was just trying to
seem somewhat concerned without actually using any leverage. My thought
was that a 10% control of any market was a _huge_ part of the market, so I
have stopped supporting Starbucks. I do buy all of my beans from PCC, but
as near as I can remember from reading the descriptions of the various
brands above the bins, none of them actually said that they were
shade-grown coffees; many, however, are organically grown (organic growers
are usually smaller plantations and may, indeed, use shade grown
techniques) and a percent of the profit from some of them may be returned
to environmentally friendly causes. Perhaps more specific info concerning
their products is available directly from PCC.

It would be helpful to know what esspresso stands in this area support
shade-grown coffees, and which roasters, if any, buy only shade-grown
beans. Does anybody have any info like this available?

Rick
Seattle, WA

On Mon, 3 Mar 1997, Kelly Cassidy wrote:

> I didn't think the post about Starbucks was intended to dispute the
> claim that shade-grown coffe is better for birds than sun-grown. I got
> the impression that the poster was wondering whether Starbucks,
> specifically, was any worse than any other coffee retailer with regard
> to the proportion of its beans that are sun grown vs shade grown. Yet,
> Starbucks seems to be the primary target.
>
> Me, I'm one of the few Seattlites still drinking Folgers. Maybe I'll
> try the PCC shade-grown next month.
> Kelly Cassidy
>