Our Shareholder Promise: Generate long-term returns
Our six promises guide our work at every level of the company. It is our partner promise to help bridge to a better future; for our customers, we promise to uplift the everyday; for our farmers, we promise to ensure the future of coffee for all; for our community, we promise to contribute positively; for our environment, we promise to give more than we take.
In doing all these things, we generate long-term returns for our shareholders. Each of the six new promises is interrelated and interchangeable, ensuring mutual success for all.
In this section:
Corporate Governance
Our Environmental and Social Impact goals are closely tied to our company’s overall strategy. Our Board of Directors assesses our impact agenda as part of their broader review and oversight of our business and strategy. In November 2023, we announced the formation of a new Environmental, Partner and Community Impact Board Committee (Impact Committee). The Impact Committee will support the Board in fulfilling its oversight responsibilities required to respond to shifting regulations and standards, and drive accountability across the environmental, partner, community impact, farmer and customer promises. The Impact Committee also has oversight of internal and external reporting tools and assessments, including the annual publication of this report, and initiatives to strengthen partner engagement and revitalize partner culture. In conjunction with the Board and its other committees, the Impact Committee will oversee certain applicable risks. More information about Corporate Governance on environmental and social topics is available online and in our Proxy Statement.
In FY23, we continued implementing our executive compensation programs, which were updated in 2021 to emphasize our focus on environmental sustainability and building diverse teams. To align with our goal of giving back more to the planet, the FY23 annual bonus program allocated 7.5 percent of the overall bonus payout for senior vice presidents and above to results that indicate we are fulfilling our promise to the planet. Another 7.5 percent was tied to creating an inclusive environment across our company, emphasizing the importance of diversity in our workforce for our global success.
Stakeholder Engagement
In FY23, we engaged in a comprehensive third-party evaluation to identify and prioritize key environmental, social and governance topics most important to the company and external stakeholder groups. This process aimed to guide Starbucks in focusing our strategy to advance our mission, promises and values. To do this, we conducted surveys and interviews across global stakeholder groups to assess the importance of environmental, social and governance topics for Starbucks.
Rooted in our commitment to transparency, we are sharing our environmental, social and governance priorities publicly with our stakeholders.
Understanding and addressing these key issues are integral to meeting the expectations of our stakeholders and ensuring alignment between our business performance and environmental, social and governance impacts. While there is work being done across all topics, these results will help
inform our program strategies and ESG reporting priorities going forward.
Global Human Rights
For decades, Starbucks has committed to respecting and protecting human rights. In 2004, Starbucks joined the U.N. Global Compact — the world’s largest corporate sustainability initiative that commits signatories to implement sustainability principles and support U.N. goals. We also remain committed to the U.N. Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights; OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises; International Bill of Rights; ILO Core Labor Standards; Women’s Empowerment Principles; Children’s Rights and Business Principles; and Framework Principles on Human Rights and the Environment. In 2020, Starbucks released our Global Human Rights Statement, which informs the decisions we make that impact our relationships with each other, our customers, our business partners and our communities.
In FY23, Starbucks completed an independent, third-party Human Rights Impact Assessment. Starbucks engaged Article One, a specialized strategy and management consultancy with expertise in human rights, responsible innovation, and sustainability, to conduct the Human Rights Impact Assessment of Starbucks policies, procedures and initiatives related to human rights. The results of that assessment are available here. This assessment represents the next step in our journey to identify and assess salient human rights risks and make key investments to support our partners, farmers, communities and the environment. As we have in the past, we look forward to continuing to update our stakeholders on our human rights journey and human rights due diligence program in the years to come.
Working Directly with our Partners
Starbucks is actively collaborating with all partners to fulfill our Partner Promise to build a bridge to a better future.
As a company, we respect our partners’ right to organize, freely associate, engage in lawful union activities and bargain collectively without fear of reprisal or retaliation. Importantly, we are committed to engaging in good faith collective bargaining for each store where a union has been appropriately certified — and have shared our aim to reach ratified contracts for union-represented stores in 2024.
As part of our commitment to our partners, all managers are provided training to help deepen their understanding of labor issues, National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) requirements and the rights of our partners to engage in protected activities—and are supported by a nationwide labor relations team established in 2022 to reinforce best-practices and ensure our adherence to company policies and compliance with applicable labor and employment laws.
As of the end of FY23, 343 U.S. stores had certified union representation. To provide timely and accurate information and resources on labor activities, we launched the one.starbucks.com website, which is designed to assist anyone seeking up-to-date information and resources related to labor initiatives. In FY23, Starbucks Board of Directors retained an independent third party expert to complete an assessment of its adherence to the principles of Freedom of Association and the Right to Collective Bargaining. The assessment found that Starbucks has shown consistent progress since organizing began, and that strategic investments in a stronger governance process, more on-the-ground support, a dedicated labor relations team and more bespoke management training have had a tangible impact on the Company’s adherence to commitments made. The full results of the assessment are available here.