Marika McCauley Sine has been named Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO) at Starbucks, stepping into the role as Michael Kobori retires. McCauley Sine joins the coffee giant after nearly a decade at Mars, where she served in various leadership roles, including Global Vice President of Sustainability and most recently as CSO of Mars Petcare. Her career also includes tenures at Coca-Cola and Oxfam.
In her announcement on LinkedIn, McCauley Sine expressed enthusiasm for her new position, “I am thrilled to share that I will soon be taking on a new role as global Chief Sustainability Officer at Starbucks. It will be an honour to lead sustainability for such an impactful business and beloved brand, in collaboration with talented partners and community members around the world. I am inspired to help advance the Starbucks legacy of doing business with humanity and fostering connection, opportunity, and joy through exceptional coffee.”
Michael Kobori, Starbucks’ first-ever CSO, is retiring after a distinguished tenure that began in 2020. Before Starbucks, Kobori was Vice President of Sustainability at Levi Strauss & Co. for 13 years and held roles at Business for Social Responsibility (BSR) and commodity trader Bunge as an independent director.
Under Kobori’s leadership, Starbucks set ambitious sustainability targets, including a commitment to reduce absolute scope 1, 2, and 3 greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2030, using a 2019 baseline. By 2023, the company had achieved an 8% reduction in emissions, although progress stalled slightly after hitting a 9% reduction in 2022.
Other key initiatives during Kobori’s tenure include aiming to conserve or replenish 50% of water withdrawals across operations, stores, packaging, and the supply chain by 2030; reducing landfill waste by 50% by 2030, and; introducing a discount scheme for customers bringing reusable cups in the U.S. and Canada in 2024, promoting waste reduction and circularity.
Despite progress in several areas, Starbucks faces hurdles in meeting its plastic reduction commitments. The company aims to ensure 100% of its plastic packaging is reusable, recyclable, or compostable by 2025, yet only 27% met these criteria as of 2022. Similarly, the goal of reducing virgin plastic use in packaging by 20% by 2025 remains far off, with only a 3% reduction achieved as of 2023.