Berjaya Starbucks Coffee Company (“Starbucks Malaysia”) emerged a winner among the 50 organizations honored at the recent CSR Malaysia Awards 2019, which was held in Kuala Lumpur recently. The awards this year paid tribute to outstanding corporations in Malaysia that have excelled in the role of change agents in the socio-economic transformation of the country.
The notable honor was in recognition of Starbucks Malaysia’s Green Outreach Program, which is dedicated to environmental stewardship and creating meaningful and sustained change through its business.
To this day, Starbucks remains committed to being a different kind of company – one that is built out of human connections, community involvement and environment preservation. Through the Starbucks Green Outreach Program, the company intends to hone a sense of togetherness and strengthening neighborhoods in the communities where their stores operate. Among other initiatives, it has championed community support of environmental causes, such as raising awareness of recycling and reusing waste materials towards the promotion of an eco-friendly lifestyle.
This was demonstrated in their collaboration with EcoKnights last year, which saw Starbucks raising funds through the retail of its reusable cups that was channelled towards the implementation of the Community Edible Garden project at Perumahan Awam Ruman Panjang Ikan Emas in Cheras. The initiative provided the B40 community with the opportunity to cultivate fresh produce on their own, while also nurturing a culture of sharing among their neighbors.
As part of its Green Outreach Program, Starbucks also organizes environmental workshops every month with the overarching environmental theme of upcycling household and material waste for gardening purposes. With the help of EcoKnights, the workshops taught several eco-friendly methods such as planting, propagation, composting, culturing effective microbes, upcycling, and other best practices for gardening.
“At Starbucks, we bring together our partners (employees), customers, communities, non-profit partners and civic leaders together to help make our neighborhoods stronger. And with a growing curiosity in environmental concerns among consumers, it has inspired us to do better in ensuring sustainability remains a priority in our business,” said Sydney Quays, CEO of Berjaya Food Berhad, and Managing Director of Starbucks Malaysia & Brunei. “This award is not only testament to our support of sustainable living and eco-friendly causes, but is also a nod to the trust we have built with our customers.”
In April this year, Starbucks Malaysia launched the second phase of its Green Outreach Program which will see the company collecting its used Flavorlock™ Whole Bean coffee bags from its customers, and upcycling them through YWCA’s onsite vocational school, Vocational Opportunity Centre (VTOC), to turn the coffee bags into purses and pouches. These end-products will start retailing in Starbucks stores across Malaysia from January 2020 onwards, with the proceeds channelling back to VTOC and the women of the B40 community who will help sew the bags.
For more information, please visit Starbucks Malaysia website at www.starbucks.com.my.