Since October, the administration and our dining services provider, Bon Appetit, have been deliberating what will replace Auntie Ann's Pretzels in the Mary Graydon Center. The deadline for this decision is approaching quickly. Two companies, Pura Vida and Starbucks, are offering similar gourmet coffee shops. There is little difference in the product offered, but there is a large difference in the social responsibility records of the two companies.
Pura Vida is a nonprofit company that sells fair-trade, organic, shade-grown coffee and is also committed to empowering workers and families in the areas of the world where its coffee is grown. The company is based on the innovative idea that capitalism can be used alongside philanthropy to benefit producers and consumers.
Pura Vida was founded by two Harvard business students, John Sage and Chris Dearnley. The two had the idea that capitalism could be used as an engine for the nonprofit sector. That belief led to the creation of a coffee company that would finance development programs for the communities in which the coffee was grown.
Pura Vida's mission statement, found on its Web site, puravidacoffee.com, is "to create good by using capitalism to empower producers, motivate consumers, inspire business leaders, and ultimately serve the poor. We believe in a different approach to business, one driven by good rather than greed. Pura Vida is 100% charitably owned and all resources go to help at-risk children and families in coffee-growing countries build more hopeful futures."
Pura Vida's coffee is all "triple-seal," which means it is fair-trade, organic and shade-grown.
Fair-trade coffee guarantees farmers a fair floor price, one that covers costs and pays a living wage, and direct market access, removing costly middlemen. Importers purchase directly from certified fair-trade producers and agree to stable, long-term trade relationships. Fair-trade farmers belong to cooperatives, which increases the growers' efficiency, driving down costs. When needed, producers can also get pre-harvest credit from importers to cover expenses. Producers must also integrate environmental protection into their process.
Organic coffee is grown without the use of chemicals, which threaten the health of coffee-growers and the environment.
Shade-grown coffee is a method of protecting the biodiversity of plantations. There are two types: rustic and planted shade. Rustic coffee shrubs are planted in existing forests, while planted-shade coffee is planted alongside other fruit-producing trees in an area that has been clear-cut.
Coffee growers desperately need fair-trade practices. The market price for coffee is currently the lowest in 100 years. Giants in the industry outproduce small farms and flood the market with cheap, poor-quality coffee that drives down the price. Consequently, coffee farmers struggle and are often not even able to cover production costs on the global market.
This affects not only farmers and their communities, but also the economies of countries such as Burundi, Ethiopia, Uganda, Rwanda, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua, which depend on income from coffee exports.
Starbucks claims that it is also committed to fair trade and socially conscious practices, and compared with other major coffee retailers, Starbucks is near the top. But it is not in an elite group when it comes to supporting the well-being of coffee producers. Starbucks currently buys 30 percent of its coffee directly from farmers, and that is down from 32 percent in 2002. Starbucks offers a fair-trade, a shade-grown and an organic coffee, but not all three in one. Also, Starbucks stores usually brew fair-trade coffees to sell by the cup only once a month. Calls to local Starbucks found that fair-trade coffee is brewed 12 days out of the year at some stores, while others never brew it. Meanwhile, Starbucks has successfully intensified its marketing campaign to publicize itself as a socially responsible company.
While Starbucks' efforts are commendable compared with its competitors, the bar is set too low for the industry's giants. Given alternatives such as Pura Vida, it is essential that consumers demonstrate their preference for entirely fair-trade, shade-grown and organic coffee products. Our University has a choice between a leader in social responsibility and an, at best, moderately socially responsible company offering a similar product. It would be an embarrassment to the University's social principles if we turned away a company like Pura Vida.
As a university that values putting ideas into action and action into service, it is important for AU to consider the example our purchasing practices set. Choosing Pura Vida is an important step in implementing ideas about sustainable living, fair trade and successful development strategies that are discussed in our classrooms. A role of universities and places of learning in this country is to lead positive change, and AU has the opportunity to join other schools in doing so with the addition of Pura Vida coffee.
Casey McNeill is a freshman in the School of International Services and College of Arts and Sciences.
