Starbucks RED Product Program To Continue Into 2009

Since Starbucks began donating a portion of its sales on Nov. 27, customers have generated contributions equal to more than 1.4 million daily doses of antiretroviral medicine, which would provide a year of therapy to more than 3,800 Africans with HIV, the company said Thursday.

The Starbucks beverages that help the fund are peppermint mocha twist, gingersnap latte and espresso truffle. (RED) products do not cost extra.

Also Thursday, Starbucks gave details on how it would continue its partnership with (RED) in 2009.

(RED) is a private organization that benefits health programs in Africa through the Global Fund. Rock singer Bono and Bobby Shriver (President John F. Kennedy's nephew) founded (RED) in 2006 to benefit the Global Fund. It works with other companies, including Apple, Dell, Gap and Microsoft.

On Jan. 3, Starbucks will release a new type of customer rewards card designed for its (RED) campaign. From Jan. 3 until Dec. 31, 2009, every time a customer uses the (RED) stored-value card to make a purchase, 5 cents will go to the Global Fund.

Before this announcement, it was unclear what Starbucks' partnership with (RED) would look like in 2009. Currently, 5 cents from the sales of certain types of holiday beverages go to the fund, but Starbucks has said that the partnership would change once the holiday beverages finished the season. Courtesy Seattle Post-Intelligencer.