An ethical cup of joe?

Ethical shopping begins one product at a time, and one of the most impactful products we can consider is coffee. At the high end of the coffee market, many brands are making ethically-sourced, sustainably-grown beans their main selling point, and use packaging and even brand names to let you know just how proud they are of it. One of the most environmentally responsible coffee manufacturers is Bird & Wild Coffee, as the name implies. If you have an unlimited coffee budget, this might be a brand you would consider.

But if you are like me, you may not have the time or the money to seek out the best performing brands in every ethical category. For the slacktivist, it's enough to try to make the best selection from the available choices in your price point. For many, that means looking at and comparing the major brand offerings. These are the products that sell the most and take up the most retail space, whether on box store shelves or in online shopping search returns.

A typical shopper in North America can expect to encounter cans of Folgers and Maxwell House, products of the Proctor & Gamble and the Kraft-Heinz corporations. A Canadian shopper can expect to see national brands like Van Houtte and of course Tim Horton's. Then there will be store brands. For example if you search for coffee on the Canadian grocery chain Loblaws, you see plenty of different selections for President's Choice, their in-store brand offering. We think it's time to examine these everyday, large-selling products and the companies that produce them.

Comparing the major coffee brands from an ethical standpoint, there are many factors to consider. If we are focusing on the treatment of workers, for example, we might reject Starbucks out of hand. According to the Violation Tracker, Starbucks has paid over 52 million dollars in fines since 2000, for employment-related offenses ranging from wage and hour violations to labor relations. During the same time period, Proctor & Gamble, makers of the Folgers brand, has paid only $2 million in fines, and Canadian-based Van Houtte has paid only about $21,000. Kraft Heinz, makers of Yuban and Maxwell house, are near the top of this measure with about $104 million in fines.

Other assessments score corporations for their performance in ethical matters, such as ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) and CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility). On these measures, for example on the CSRHub percentage ranking, Kraft Heinz again fares poorly, achieving only 64%, compared with Proctor & Gamble and Nestle, with 91% and 98% respectively. These measures are evaluated from dozens or even hundreds of sources, based on measures like Community, Environment, Employees and Governance. Proctor & Gamble was specifically noted for supporting sustainable forestry initiatives and providing a mother-friendly working environment.

So when you only have a few dollars and a few minutes, and you want to make sure those dollars go to a company with a measurably good track record on ethical issues, consider Folgers, a decent coffee you can find in most stores in North America. A little bit of your effort will go to supporting working mothers and the environment, and you can celebrate with a cup of joe.