STARBUCKS COFFEE CORPORATION Our partnership with Starbucks is focused on encouraging best practices for coffee cultivation methods and providing overall support to CI's biodiversity conservation efforts. Starbucks and CELB developed coffee purchasing guidelines in 2001 to support Starbucks commitment to purchase coffee that has been grown and processed by suppliers who meet important environmental, social, economic and quality standards. more Starbucks is providing support for the development of CI's Conservation Coffee(tm) field projects around the world. Three coffee products sourced from CI's Conservation Coffee™ field projects are available in Starbucks retail stores. These include Starbucks Shade Grown Mexico™, Starbucks Conservation Colombia™ and Starbucks Peru (currently available only in Peru). In 2003, Starbucks agreed to provide $2.5 million in loans to support to CI's Verde Ventures. Half of the funds will be requested by CI in 2004 and half in 2005, and will be available for use by CI to provide loans to coffee businesses contributing to conservation in CI priority areas. Prior to the launch of Verde Ventures, Starbucks provided a loan guarantee to support $1.4 million in loans made to coffee farmers in Chiapas, Mexico by CI and its partner, Ecologic Enterprise Ventures, Inc. from 2000-2003. Starbucks and other coffee industry leaders played an advisory role for CI, the Rainforest Alliance and the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center in the production of the Conservation Principles for Coffee Production. The Principles formed a basis for the Starbucks Green Coffee Purchasing Guidelines and Preferred Supplier Pilot Program announced in 2001. more Starbucks is a founding member of CI's Business & Biodiversity Council, a community of companies committed to leveraging their business experience and resources to conserve biodiversity. more Starbucks was the "Premier Sponsor" of CI's 2002 fundraising dinner in Seattle, supporting CI's global biodiversity conservation efforts. Orin Smith, Starbucks CEO and President, chaired this event, which brought in $1.5 million, the largest amount raised in CI's history. Several Starbucks leaders are personally involved with CI, serving on various committees and councils. Starbucks president and CEO Orin Smith is an active member of CI's board of directors. For more information on Starbucks, click here.