For Every Chiapas Coffee Sold This Thursday, Starbucks Will Donate a Tree

This Thursday, September 29, is National Coffee Day in the United States. In honor of everyone’s favorite morning beverage and the farmers who make its consumption possible, Starbucks has announced it will donate one coffee tree to a farmer in need for every cup of Mexico Chiapas coffee sold Thursday.

The Coffee Day initiative is part of Starbucks’s broader commitment to help wipe out coffee rust—a fungus threatening coffee trees in Latin America. For the last year, Starbucks has donated a coffee tree for every bag of coffee purchased in participating stores in America and Mexico. Already, the company has raised enough money to plant 18 million rust-resistant coffee trees, 10 million of which have already been delivered to farmers. They hope that by extending their “One Tree for Every Bag” commitment to cups of coffee for National Coffee Day, they will be able to meet their goal of donating 20 million trees by the end of 2016.

“I have seen firsthand the devastation coffee rust has had on farmers. The initial distribution of these coffee trees has already had a positive impact with potential to help farmers and their families for years to come,” said Starbucks Global Coffee executive vice president Craig Russell in a statement. “This is the perfect way to have our customers and the coffee community become part of the solution on National Coffee Day.”

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