Starbucks Deepens Dedication to Fighting Hunger in the Philippines

By expanding its partnerships with Grab, the Philippine FoodBank Foundation, and Gawad Kalinga to aid local communities and children facing hunger, Starbucks has strengthened its commitment to positively impact the wellbeing of all who connect with Starbucks as the company celebrates its 25th year in the Philippines.

(L-R) Quito Lopez, manager of Store Development,Starbucks Philippines, Noey Lopez, president of Starbucks Philippines, Jose Luis Oquiñena, Chairman of Gawad Kalinga, Anton Bautista, Senior Director of Deliveries of Grab Philippines, Menchu Lopez, director of Store Development, Starbucks Philippines,, Jun Lopez Jr., chairman of Starbucks Philippines, Mark Lawrence Cruz, Kusina ng Kalinga Program Head of Gawad Kalinga, Dr. Bernie Villegas, Chairman of the Board of the Philippine FoodBank Foundation, Inc., Emmy Kan, SVP and president of Starbucks Asia Pacific, Trudi Slater, VP, Internal Retail Operations of Starbucks, Michael Conway, group president, International and Channel Development of Starbucks, Angela Cole, director of Operations of Starbucks Philippines, Grace Vera Cruz, Country Head of Grab Philippines, Greg Smith, VP, CFO, International and Channel Development of Starbucks, Marianne Duong, VP, Global Communications of Starbucks, Jamie Silva, senior manager of Marketing, DCE & Loyalty for Starbucks Philippines, Erin Silvoy, VP, Product and Marketing of Starbucks Asia Pacific, and Keith Cole, head of Product, Marketing & QA of Starbucks Philippines.

Michael Conway, group president of Starbucks International and Channel Development, and Noey Lopez, President and CEO of Starbucks Philippines, announced that Starbucks Philippines will award a USD$25,000 grant to the Philippine FoodBank Foundation and another USD$25,000 grant to support Starbucks' global positive ambition to improve the well-being of 1 billion people by 2030. These grants will be used to expand the ongoing Starbucks FoodShare and Kusina ng Kalinga feeding initiatives run by Gawad Kalinga.

According to Starbucks International and Channel Development group president Michael Conway, "Starbucks has always been a distinct sort of corporation, one steeped with purpose." "Starbucks has opened more than 400 locations in the Philippines since we first arrived there 25 years ago, and we're using our size to benefit our partners, consumers, and communities. We are proud of our green apron partners in the Philippines and their contribution to eradicating hunger and promoting community wellbeing.

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Noey Lopez, president of Starbucks Philippines, stated, "Much of the transformative work on our battle against hunger is possible thanks to the support of The Starbucks Foundation, and dedication of our community impact partners." "We are appreciative of all the organizations that support the execution of our programs to combat hunger. As we mark our 25th anniversary in the Philippines, we aim to engage more people by growing our social impact initiatives.

Kusina ng Kalinga of Gawad Kalinga is fighting child hunger.

The Starbucks Foundation gave Gawad Kalinga a USD$50,000 Global Community Impact Grant in April 2022 to help with the Kusina ng Kalinga food donation program, benefiting over 600 children. Within 95 days, the program hopes to get kids back to eating right.

Since July 2022, the Kusina ng Kalinga program has been operating in Gawad Kalinga communities in Toyota, Sta. Rosa Laguna, and Tribuin, Batasan Hills. Starbucks Philippines partners (workers) will volunteer with the community kitchens to assist with food preparation and distribution, and Starbucks Philippines' additional grant will help the Kusina ng Kalinga program reach more children and families.

Assisting underserved communities through Starbucks FoodShare

Through its collaboration with the Philippine FoodBank Foundation and Grab, Starbucks Philippines is the first market in Southeast Asia to test the Starbucks FoodShare food donation program. Since January 2022, participating Starbucks locations have partnered with Grab drivers to collect and deliver daily food donations that have been expertly prepared by partners to the Philippine FoodBank Foundation. Donations are then given to communities in Metro Manila that require food assistance via the food bank.

Nearly 200,000 food packages have been given away by the corporation to underserved communities since the program's debut in January 2022.

Starbucks will carry out significant social action to support local communities in the Philippines as it celebrates its 25th year of fostering connections through coffee.