Starbucks Supports Farms with 5,000 Tons of Coffee Compost Over 10 Years

Used as raw materials for agricultural products produced with coffee compost, promoting a virtuous cycle

Starbucks Korea announced on the 18th that it has supported approximately 5,000 tons of coffee compost to local farms over the past 10 years since 2015.

Recently, Starbucks delivered a total of 480 tons of coffee compost to yuzu farms in Goheung, Jeollanam-do, and to the Mideum Agricultural Cooperative in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi-do, which produces powdered rice. This coffee compost support is part of a win-win agreement signed last December with the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs to promote the consumption of domestic agricultural products.

This compost delivery is part of the win-win agreement signed last December with the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs to promote the consumption of domestic agricultural products. The coffee grounds compost donated by Starbucks will be used by about 50 yuzu farms in Goheung and about 40 powdered rice farms in Pyeongtaek to produce domestic yuzu and powdered rice.

Coffee grounds are rich in nutrients such as nitrogen, which are essential for plant growth, and contain no heavy metals, making them effective in preventing pests and diseases and serving as a natural fertilizer with a high organic matter content. Agricultural products grown using eco-friendly coffee grounds compost are used as raw materials for Starbucks products, creating a resource circulation system that leads to nationwide store releases.

Since 2015, Starbucks has partnered with Gyeonggi Province to promote agricultural product consumption and resource recycling by recycling coffee grounds discharged from stores into eco-friendly coffee compost and delivering it to local farms. Last year, coffee grounds were recognized as a circular resource recycled into compost and products, and coffee grounds trays made from this material were selected as Korea’s first circular resource usage product.

Jonghyun Son, CEO of Starbucks Korea, said, "The win-win activities with farms using coffee grounds, which have continued for 10 years, are one of the core values of Starbucks’ sustainable management. We will continue to lead resource circulation activities such as product development using domestic agricultural products and support for coffee compost."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.