Help Haitian Coffee Farmers

To Mr.: Howard Shultz, Chairman of Starbucks
Cc:r. James Donald, C.E.O of Starbucks
Cc: Ms.M. Behrbau, spokeperson of Starbucks
Please send to International Development Partnerships Dept.


StarBucks Corp.
[email protected]


2401 Utah Avenue South
Seattle, WASHINGTON 98134

+1 206 447-1575
Fax: 206-682-7570
www.starbucks.com









We the undersigned, a group of Haitians, Haitian-Americans, and American consumers of all diverse backgrounds, and beliefs would like for you as the Chairman, and Chief executive of the Starbucks Corp, a company started by Mr. Howard that has become the largest coffee retailer in the world with over 8700 stores, we have seen the success of your labor as Starbucks have used its prestige image to revitalize downtown neighborhoods not only in the US, but also in cities Asia, and Europe. In a newspaper article of the New York Times, Starbucks has announced plans to make some social contributions in the communities that it procures its coffee from, it shows how if corporations like yours are able to do this once there is a shear will to so, great changes can be accomplished throughout to minimize the spurring growth of poverty in the world whether it be in the US, where your company was the first major retailer to open its doors after the Hurricane of Katrina, and Ethiopia your company has given hundreds of dollars to obtain potable water for some rural communities in that country one of the worlds poorest like Haiti, a country with numerous potential to grow economically to grow if it could obtain some support from corporations like Starbucks to sustain its economy which would lessen the political attributes in the country. One of the major producers of coffee in the Caribbean is Haiti, and this product was one of the leading export products that made it, the richest colony in the New World for the former French Empire. It has remained produced in many different levels in the country during the past century, and the topography aspects
Which is mountainous in nature have made it an ideal place to cultivate the crop. There have a renewed interest in Haitian coffee; recently, the regional banking groups of the Americas, Inter-American Development Bank have pledged over 100 million dollars to facilitate the commercial production of Haitian coffee to premium markets around the world. To get the original intent of this letter, we would like to propose the resolution that we the petitioners have taken a pledge to buy Starbucks-Haitian procured coffee at the percentage of 25\% of the total purchase made by Starbucks in a timeline of a reasonable timeframe that could be set mutually by us. The terms are that Starbucks help the rural farmers and producers of Haitian coffee in Haiti to grow more efficiently their products, to give commercial support such as irrigation, erosion, weather, and other educational help to advance themselves and their communities. Since Starbucks already championed the fair trade program in the coffee industry which some of your competitors such Petes Coffee, and others have followed, we would also ask that Starbucks use its savvy in this area to make sure the farmers, and workers are paid standard wages acceptable in Haiti. Its not an enforcement issue, but honesty as a way to discourage potential abusers of the program. Furthermore, the Haitian community has grown remarkably in the US over the past decade, and their purchasing power have also greatly increased over the time because of their general hardworking, and quick assimilation and a segment of American-born Haitians who have adopted the qualities as an immigrant community given the opportunity to succeed in the US just like Starbucks had the opportunity to grow from a single store in Seattle, to the largest retailer, and buyer of coffee in the world. Your company sustains numerous communities in coffee growing countries such as Brazil, Ethiopia, Colombia, Thailand, and Vietnam. The Haitian Haitian Bleu produced by the 20,000 farmers of coffee have received excellent reviews from coffee trade publications even though it is not widely marketed, if Starbucks, chooses to be involved in this plan, we the undersigned agreed to make it known in our communities that Starbucks is the preferred coffee outlet to buy the coffee. We hope the Starbucks Corp can quickly reply to us as far its intent on participating in this plan, and to contact us as well as the concerned authorities in this matter such as the US and Haitian authorities in the Agriculture, Overseas Investment Office, Haitian consulate in DC, the Ministry of Agriculture, Trade, and etc....We would also reply to us via electronic mail to inform us on the of their decision, and the coffee growing cooperative farmers in Haiti. As a disclaimer we do not represent any government, other special groups unrelated this program. This is solely an effort started by a group of concerned of Haitians in the US to bring social change in the lives of many Haitian farmers, and we support the efforts of Starbucks for the great initiatives it has taken in this cause Thank you very much for all your support.



Sincerely Yours,
Chris Toussaint
StarbucksCoffeeHaiti Consumer Group.


P.S. All assignees of this petition must read carefully the statements above, and only signed this petition
If they truly in the cause of this petition since this proposal requires assignees to make general efforts to make sure the program
Succeeds. It requires a assignees not only to purchase at least once a cup of Starbucks coffee if the company implements the procurement program mentioned above, but to also make general word of mouth buzz about the program. It goes beyond the signature, but if a person wishes to sympathize with the cause and unable to at least one of the above requirements, it is greatly appreciated and we are pleased, and you must disclose that so we can have a way to tally the number of prospective buyers from the general assignees so we can submit a follow up to Starbucks.Thank You



Contact Us : StarbucksCoffeeHaiti Consumer Group
Email : [email protected]




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