Starbucks has announced that all of the coffee to be served at its UK and Ireland stores will be Fairtrade certified by the end of 2009, in a move to reverse the sharp decline in sales.
The company said that the agreement would make it the largest purchaser of Fairtrade certified coffee in the world, doubling its global acquisitions to £40m in volume next year.
At present only 6% of Starbucks’ coffee sales around the world are certified as Fairtrade.
Howard Schultz, Starbucks chairman, president and chief executive, made the announcement after the company estimated negative comparable store sales for the fiscal year ending September 2009.
The coffee chain said that it expected the company to continue to face a very difficult economic environment in the US and internationally throughout 2009, including in its largest company-operated markets in Canada and the UK.
It also said that lease termination and severance costs from the US and Australia closures would cut fiscal 2009 earnings by about 12 cents per share.
