Sustainability bond issuance follows company’s first U.S. Corporate
Sustainability Bond in 2016 as part of its ongoing commitment to
sustainably sourced coffee
TOKYO & SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ: SBUX) today announced that it has closed
an underwritten public offering of senior notes, comprising the first
global yen-denominated Corporate Sustainability Bond issued in the
Japanese market. The company will use the net proceeds from the offering
of 85 billion Japanese Yen in 0.372% Senior Notes due 2024 to enhance
its sustainability programs around coffee supply chain management
through Eligible Sustainability Projects. This includes coffee purchases
from suppliers verified by a third-party as complying with Starbucks
ethical sourcing verification program of Coffee and Farmer Equity
(C.A.F.E.) Practices, the development and operation of farmer support
centers in coffee growing regions, as well as new and financed loans
made through Starbucks Global Farmer Fund.
“Coffee is our core and we are committed to supporting the
sustainability of the specialty coffee industry for future generations
through the issuance of our second sustainability bond,” said Scott Maw,
chief financial officer, Starbucks. “We are pleased to be able to close
our first foreign-denominated bond issuance in Japan, a significant and
strategically important global market for Starbucks, which is renowned
for its socially conscious consumers and investors who have fully
embraced the Starbucks brand. Japan was our first international market
outside of North America and has continued to grow and scale over the
past 20 years to now more than 1,200 stores across all 47 prefectures.”
Each year, Starbucks invests significantly in its comprehensive approach
to ethically source its coffee. This includes providing support to
coffee farming communities, helping mitigate the impact of climate
change, and reinforcing long-term crop stability and farm
sustainability. This work has contributed to the planting of 22 million
rust-resistant coffee trees in Latin America to-date. Starbucks operates
a network of nine farmer support centers around the world (Rwanda,
Tanzania, Colombia, China, Costa Rica, Indonesia, Guatemala, Ethiopia
and Mexico), and has a commitment to provide $50 million in farmer
financing in the form of new and financed loans. In 2013, Starbucks also
purchased a working coffee farm in Costa Rica which acts as a global
research and development center. All of this is grounded in the
company’s open sourced C.A.F.E. Practices developed with Conservation
International over 15 years ago. This rigorous set of best practices
helps to ensure that the methods used in growing and processing coffee
are efficient, effective and sustainable, both environmentally and
socially. In 2015, 99% of Starbucks 551 million pounds of green coffee
purchased were verified as ethically sourced and Starbucks became a
founding member of the Sustainable Coffee Challenge - an industry
coalition with a call to action to make coffee the first sustainable
agricultural product in the world.
Sustainalytics, a leading global provider of environmental, social and
governance (ESG) research and ratings, delivered the second opinion for
the Sustainability Bond. This independent review offers investors
additional insight into the proposed projects to be funded by the bond,
as well as the expected positive environmental and social impacts of
these projects. Sustainalytics also rates Starbucks as an ESG leader in
both overall and relative performance to its peers.
"Starbucks efforts to improve sustainable agricultural practices and
socioeconomic conditions of coffee farmers underscore its ongoing
commitment to sustainable coffee production,” said Alexander Rengers,
executive director of Advisory Services at Sustainalytics. “We are
honored to work with Starbucks on their Sustainability Bond and look
forward to seeing the impact of their bond.”
Starbucks offered the first U.S. Corporate Sustainability Bond in May
2016. The issuance marked the first time a U.S. Corporation offered a
Sustainability bond focused on educational and sustainable agricultural
initiatives to further diversify the company’s investor base. The high
interest and success of the initial issuance was a catalyst for the
company’s first foreign denominated issuance of a Sustainability bond.
Starbucks will publish annual updates of the allocation of the proceeds
throughout the term of the sustainability bond until the proceeds have
been fully allocated to projects meeting the eligibility criteria. These
updates will be reported publicly on the Starbucks website at www.starbucks.com
and may include additional descriptions of select projects funded with
sustainability bond proceeds, and, where possible, their environmental
and/or social impacts.
About Starbucks
Since 1971, Starbucks Coffee Company has been committed to ethically
sourcing and roasting high-quality arabica coffee. Today,
with more than 25,000 stores around the globe, Starbucks is the premier
roaster and retailer of specialty coffee in the world. Through our
unwavering commitment to excellence and our guiding principles, we bring
the unique Starbucks Experience to life for every customer through every
cup. To share in the experience, please visit our stores or online at news.starbucks.com and Starbucks.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements contained in this release are “forward-looking
statements” within the meaning of applicable securities laws and
regulations, including statements about the expected closing of a public
offering or senior notes and the use of proceeds of such offering. Such
forward-looking statements are based on current management expectations
and satisfactions of certain conditions that are subject to various
risks and uncertainties, including market conditions and those risks
detailed in the Company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange
Commission, including the “Risk Factors” section of the Starbucks Annual
Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended October 2, 2016, and the
prospectus and prospectus supplement delivered in connection with the
public offering of senior notes discussed in this release. The company
assumes no obligation to update any of these forward-looking statements.
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Source: Starbucks Corporation