Starbucks Korea receives Prime Minister's Citation for supporting small businesses, local farms

Starbucks Korea received a Prime Minister’s Citation on Tuesday for its support of small businesses and local farms.

Starbucks Korea CEO Sohn Jeong-hyun, far right, receives the Prime Minister’s Citation at the 2025 Win-Win Growth Index ceremony held at the Korea Federation of SMEs in western Seoul on Nov. 25. Minister of SMEs and Startups Han Seong-sook stands at the center, and to the far left is a Starbucks employee. [STARBUCKS]

Starbucks Korea received a Prime Minister’s Citation on Tuesday for its support of small businesses and local farms. The award was presented at the 2025 Win-Win Growth Index ceremony hosted by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups and the Korea Commission for Corporate Partnership in western Seoul.

A major focus of the company’s co-prosperity strategy has been its work with small cafes. Starbucks signed a partnership agreement in 2022 with the Korea Commission for Corporate Partnership and the Cafe Owner Cooperative Organization — the first of its kind in Korea’s coffee industry. Since then, it has co-created regional beverages, using local ingredients and sharing recipes and supplies with more than 970 small cafes. These collaborations have resulted in over 416,000 regional beverages being made this year.

The company works with farming communities as well. Since 2015, it has given more than 5,500 tons of composted coffee grounds, valued at over 1 billion won ($685,000), to farms in areas including Boseong and Goheung in South Jeolla, Hadong in South Gyeongsang and Jeju Island. Farmers have used the compost to grow produce that Starbucks later uses to make beverages like its“Citrus Mint Tea,” which is made with citron from Goheung and has been one of the chain’s 10 bestsellers for two years straight.

Since 2014, Starbucks Korea has also opened 11 stores that donate a portion of their profits to philanthropic initiatives, including raising awareness and understanding of disabilities, revitalizing traditional markets and supporting descendants of veterans and national patriots. The company has donated a cumulative total of 6 billion won.

BY PAIK JI-HWAN [paik.jihwan@joongang.co.kr]