Starbucks managers picking coffee beans

Starbucks wants to create an 'emotional connection' between its staff and its product. Therefore its store workers and managers of European shops were invited to experience the coffee process on the plantations in Costa Rica, Sumatra and Tanzania. There they help the local farmers to pick coffee beans. The idea is that staff will be encouraged by what they see and push the company's ideals on their return.

Starbucks is the biggest buyer of Fairtrade coffee in the world. It wants to give customers the best coffee while ensuring the payments it makes get through to the farmer on the ground. "We gave a material gift, we were given an emotional gift." says a manager from Madrid. It seems that Starbucks succeeded in convincing employees that their company is 'doing good', which is important.

Or is this just another hollow PR stunt?
(Guardian)