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Restaurant Industry

• » Sustainable Business
• » Businesses Working Toward Sustainability
• » Company Sustainability Initiatives
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Caribou Coffee

• Products: Coffee; tea; syrups; coffee accessories; clothing
• Unique Programs:
• Caribou Coffee is committed to economic, social and environmental responsibility. They partner with the Rainforest Alliance, a certification body for coffee farms. By 2008, 50% of all coffee will be Rainforest Alliance Certified.
• Caribou Coffee sells Essential Organic Blend coffee, a USDA certified product.
• Fair Trade coffee is also offered at the establishment, or coffee grown by producers who receive fair compensation for their product.
• The company actively participates in Coffee Kids; a non-profit organization that helps coffee-producing communities in Central America and Mexico.
• Caribou Coffee contributes to Grounds for Health, a non-profit organization focusing on women's health. With the help of Caribou Coffee, Grounds for Health brings health care to coffee growing communities.
• In their ongoing efforts to green up the organization, Caribou Coffee is using certified lumber and paper products that have been produced with minimal impact to the environment.
• Lastly, Caribou Coffee focuses on healthy communities, wildlife conservation, environmental preservation, and workers' rights, wages and welfare.

Marie Catrib’s

• Products: Breakfast; hummous; sandwiches; salads; deli sides; and lots of vegetarian options
• Unique Programs:
• Quality, sustainability, and creativity are the driving forces behind this restaurant.
• Many of the ingredients come from nearby Michigan farmers who farm organically and without chemicals.
• The restaurant offers locally grown food from people who make it their goal to take care of the land.
• Marie Catrib's is located the East Hills Center, a LEED certified building with a Gold rating.

Starbucks

• Products: Coffee; tea; chocolate; coffee accessories; clothing
• Unique Programs:
• The "Make your Mark" program matches partners’ and customers’ volunteer hours with cash contributions to designated nonprofit organizations ($10 for every hour, up to $1,000). Since the program started in January 2000, partners and customers have volunteered 250,000 hours, generating more than $1.2 million for local charities.
• Funded by partners through voluntary payroll deductions and fundraisers, the Caring Unites Partners (CUP) Fund provides financial relief to partners facing emergency situations that affect their economic quality of life.
• Starbucks designed "Choose to Give!", a flexible workplace-giving program that matches each partner’s charitable contributions, up to $1,000 annually.
• Starbucks encourages the use of ecologically sound growing practices that help protect biodiversity and provide economic opportunities for coffee farmers. They formed a partnership with Conservation International (CI) in 1998 to encourage environmentally sound coffee-growing practices and to improve farmer livelihoods in Chiapas (Mexico), Colombia, Peru and other areas.
• Starbucks is one of North America's largest roasters and retailers of Fair Trade Certified™ coffee.
• Starbucks has economic transparency requirements for 59% of all coffee purchased to provide information on the payments made to farmers. This represents 177 million pounds of coffee.
• The company offers a tuition reimbursement program (up to $1,000 per calendar year) for employees who have worked one year and meet eligibility requirements.
• Starbucks has been working to increase employee diversity. Within the U.S., 63% of Starbuck's workforce are women and 24% are people of color. Thirty-one percent of executives are women, while 13% are people of color.
• Starbucks offers customers a 10-cent discount if they have their beverages served in their own mugs.
• The "Grounds for Your Garden" program provides complimentary five-pound bags of used coffee grounds to customers and local parks to add to their soil as nourishment. Coffee grounds account for about 37% of the waste by weight in stores.
• The burlap bags which hold the imported coffee beans are given to farms and factories producing furniture and carpet pads for reuse.
• Starbucks TOP, which stands for Transportation Options Program provides local shuttles at no charge, subsidizes passes for mass transit, and gives rewards to employees who bike, walk, or carpool.
• The first Starbucks built under LEED standards for commercial interiors was built in Hillsboro Oregon in 2005. LEED Gold certification is pending.
• The Starbucks Thrive Wellness program puts an emphasis on personal health and wellness as being a mutual responsibility of both company and partners. To further promote this viewpoint, the company contracted with health and fitness centers to lower the cost of use for Starbucks employees.
• When Starbucks buys Fair Trade Certified coffee, they pay a social premium which has gone to fund health clinics and schools. Starbucks also works directly with coffee farmers to build up local economies and help them reach their full social potential.
• Starbucks also patronizes C.A.F.E. (Coffee and Farmer Equity) Practices. The company has also managed to coordinate credit contracts for some farmers to guarantee more profitable prices for their crops.
• By joining up with the U.S. Conference of Mayors, Starbucks hopes to gain deeper comprehension of public issues in the communities where their stores operate.
• With a law enacted in 2006 in Japan calling for a mandatory 20% decrease in food waste, a special team has been designated to develop strategies to meet this, and they are hoping to adopt the same waste-cutting techniques in North America and other Starbucks locations around the world.

The Green Well

• Products: Beer; wine; sandwiches; soups; salads; and dinner entrees
• Unique Programs:
• The Green Well holds true to its name with a dedication to "green" practices.
• The American Gastro Pub is housed in a LEED® certified building with LEED® interiors, including sustainable wall covering, flooring, ceiling, tables, chairs, and florescent lighting.
• This smoke-free restaurant also practices sustainability by working with as many local vendors as possible for food and beverages.
• The restaurant is housed in a residential neighborhood in Grand Rapids.

Funded by the Steelcase Foundation of Grand Rapids, Michigan
Header photo courtesy of Bigfoto
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