Starbucks 2000 Annual Report Download - page 3

Letter to Shareholders starbucks coffee company P. 19
Our people are crucial to ensuring that we deliver the Starbucks Experience every day. The passion they
bring to our customers is one of our greatest assets. To ensure that our partners share in Starbucks
success, we provided stock option grants to eligible partners under the Bean Stock Plan for the 10th
consecutive year. Our ongoing commitment to providing a great work environment has also had many
positive impacts on our partners and customers. One indication of our collective passion is the dedication
and team spirit displayed by partners at our LaBrea & San Vicente store (opened through our alliance with
Earvin “Magic” Johnson). The morning after these outstanding partners won the fourth largest lottery
jackpot in California history, they chose to come to work and cheerfully opened the store at 5:30 a.m. to
serve their customers.
Starbucks long-term success as a company will be measured in part by our ability to be a responsible
global citizen. As part of our ongoing efforts to address social and environmental issues in coffee-
origin countries, we committed to a year-round offering of shade grown, organic or Fair Trade
certified coffees. We launched this Commitment to Origins™category with Shade Grown Mexico
coffee in collaboration with Conservation International, and we were proud to introduce Fair Trade
Certified coffee to our customers through a new alliance with TransFair USA. In addition, we
significantly increased our commitment to provide financial support for Conservation
International’s work to protect global biodiversity. Starbucks also continues to be one of the largest
North American contributors to CARE, the international aid and development organization, and we
are honored to support their work to improve the lives of people in coffee origin countries.
We are also deeply committed to bringing the joy of reading to people around the world. The
Starbucks Foundation assisted more than 100 organizations in fiscal year 2000 by providing more
than $1 million in literacy grants in North America. We also extended the program to include
initiatives in New Zealand, Thailand and the Philippines. In addition, we held our fourth annual
All Books for Children drive, through which we collected more than 335,000 books for schools and
literacy programs.
Our joint venture with Earvin “Magic” Johnson’s Johnson Development Corporation to open Starbucks
Coffee stores in under-served urban neighborhoods continues to enrich lives and contribute positively
to the communities in which the stores operate. During fiscal year 2000 we opened 11 new stores in six
states in the United States through this unique joint venture.
We each assumed new leadership roles in fiscal year 2000 that were designed to leverage our
respective skills and experience in our growing and dynamic company. We feel that our transition
has been seamless, and we are more confident than ever that the Starbucks brand has tremendous
opportunities ahead. We are humbled by Starbucks success. The achievements of the past inspire
us to continue this amazing journey together as we strive towards our goal of becoming a great,
enduring global brand.
For all of you who bring Starbucks to life, thank you for your ongoing support.
Warm regards,
Howard Schultz Orin C. Smith
chairman and chief global strategist president and chief executive officer