SNEWS® Live: Starbucks executive shares responsible business practices at OIA breakfast
Ben Packard, director of environmental affairs at Starbucks, discusses with SNEWS® Live how his company blends social responsibility with smart business practices to yield a profitable bottom line.
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This edition of SNEWS® Live is brought to you by The North Face
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SNEWS® Live: Starbucks is one of the world’s leading retailers. With 14,400 stores in 41 countries, the popular coffee company wields incredible power to sway market forces. By putting social and environmental responsibility before profits, Starbucks has set a new standard in business that demonstrates the practical benefits of ethics in the course of commerce.
Using its influence to leverage social change, Starbucks has instituted programs that assure its employees both domestically and internationally a safe workplace, a living wage, access to health care and opportunities for advancement. The company is also actively engaged in each community where its stores are located, supporting local causes through charitable contributions that total millions of dollars each year.
During Outdoor Retailer Summer Market 2007 in Salt Lake City, Utah, Ben Packard, director of environmental affairs at Starbucks, was the keynote speaker at Outdoor Industry Association’s breakfast. Serving up more than just a fine cup of coffee, Packard outlined in broad detail the steps his company took to maximize its return on responsible business practices. Packard illustrated for those who attended the means by which any company might duplicate Starbucks’ success.
Shortly after his presentation, Packard sat down with SNEWS® Live in an interview to tell us more.
