Drinking Coffee - Doing Good

Standsted Airport - on my way to Slovenia. In the early morning rush I sit down to get a cup of coffee. As I sit and enjoy the first coffee of the day, I discover a text on the very paper cup I’m drinking coffee from. The text informs me that I’m sitting there doing good. It says:

Good Coffee, Doing good We want you to feel good about the coffee you drink. Through C.A.F.E (Coffe and farmer Equity) Practices, Starbucks and farmers work together to produce high-quality coffee in more environmentally friendly and socially responsible ways.

Sitting there in the airport surrounded by shops, cafes, restaurants and other places where you can spend money, my mind goes wondering about the consumer culture. The text tells me, I am doing good because I chose to drink this cup of coffee. Obviously it is branding strategy, and the coffee company wants to signalise, that they are a caring company with an awareness of human responsibility.

At the same time they extend the experience of drinking coffee. Drinking coffee becomes more than flavour and taste. Drinking coffee becomes related to caring for the world and feeling good about your self.

I can’t help thinking; do I as a consumer become a small brick in a bigger game, which is only about money? I suppose this is inevitable, since it all revolves around getting the consumers money. Some might argue that this strategy is all about flashing ones own goodness. I suppose that is true in way, but does it matter? If buying this particular cup of coffee, instead of another, actually help improve something somewhere? However I like the Idea that I as a consumer have just a little bit of power. That I through the products I buy also invest in social or environmental responsibility.

I don’t have a conclusion on these considerations. I’ve finished the coffee and my plane is about to board. However I found it very interesting that the experience of drinking this coffee was somewhat different from all the other cups of coffee I drink – and I actually drink a lot of coffee.