Starbucks & Conservation International I. Starbucks & Conservation International - Introduction & Background

Today Starbucks is more than a coffee chain and Conservation International is hardly a household name. Through its efforts, Starbucks has transformed into a location where friends to catch up, colleagues can have impromptu meetings, and others simply get their coffee fix for the day. Thinking back to Starbuck’s humble beginnings, they only sold roasted coffee blends, tea, and spices. Howard Shutlz had the vision to transform Starbucks into more than just a coffee house –a destination where espresso, food, and merchandise would be sold sold as well. It wasn’t until he was able to buy out Starbucks and take over the Starbucks
Conservation International was involved with the full circle of operations.
III. Results: Keys to a Successful Partnership

Some of the key factors that allowed the relationship between Starbucks and Conservation International to work so well is that they worked quickly to prove their method would work. Previously when Starbucks worked with the Environmental Defense Fund the collaboration period took twice as long and long negotiations followed. It never seemed like Conservation Initiative ever cornered Starbucks into joining forces with them. They simply offered Starbucks an opportunity to purchase beans from an environmentally friendly grower. Starbucks was able to go out to the Chivas project and quality-check that their coffee beans were being grown correctly. It was in this trip that Starbucks and Conservation International saw that their corporate integrity, marketing messages, and results driven business were on the same level. This is just one of the key factors that enabled Starbucks to form such a powerful alliance with Conservation International.
Another factor that led to the Starbucks and Conservational International alliance was the pair’s concern for quality control. Conservational International’s staff took the time to grade every lot that the farmers delivered, so that if there was a quality control problem when the beans arrived to Starbucks, they could be