Poor Farmer

Reuters November 12, 2010 Starbucks Corp (SBUX.O) signed an agreement with Chinese provincial government bodies on Friday to open and operate its first ever coffee bean farm and processing facility in the world in Yunnan, China. "Our investment in this coffee growing region demonstrates our ongoing commitment to build China into our second home market outside of the U.S.," said Howard Schultz, chief executive of Starbucks, in a statement. The farm will be located in Yunnan province, a rice planting province in southwest China. As part of the agreement, Seattle-based Starbucks will help local farmers promote responsible coffee-growing practices and develop localised coffee. Yunnan's government also plans to invest 3 billion yuan ($453 million) in expanding green bean volume from the current 38,000 tons to 200,000 tons by 2020, Starbucks said in its press release. Starbucks did not reveal the size of its investment. The world's top coffee chain, which sl...

By Laurie Burkitt The Wall Street Journal NOVEMBER 12, 2010 KUNMING, China—Starbucks Corp. is developing its own coffee farm in China to secure supply amid a booming population of coffee drinkers and a global battle for quality coffee beans. The Seattle-based coffee chain said Friday it plans to hire coffee growers in China's southwest Yunnan province who will plant Arabica seeds in the first quarter of next year and harvest yields by 2014. A processing facility and a coffee development research center are also in the pipeline, said Starbucks Chief Executive Howard Schultz. "Our investment in this coffee growing region demonstrates our ongoing commitment to build China into our second home market outside of the U.S.," Mr. Schultz said. The push comes as China's demand for coffee is skyrocketing, as is the global price of coffee beans. Coffee sales for the industry climbed 9% last year to 4.6 billion yuan, or roughly $700 million, according to research comp...