Starbucks: We don't fund Israel

[Galraedia]

Source: CNN

The coffee chain has issued a statement announcing that neither Starbucks nor CEO Howard Schultz "provides financial support to Israel," or to its army, in the wake of what Starbucks (SBUX) called "false rumors."

The company, which is known for flooding markets with its stores, also pointed out that it closed all of its stores in Israel in 2003 because of "operational challenges."

Spokesman Jim Olson wouldn't specify what challenges the company faced in Israel, but did say the decision to leave "was not related to political issues."

The company has publicly refuted claims about its support for Israel before, but reiterated its position because it saw an "uptick in false rumors out there about Starbucks and the Middle East," according to Olson.

Read more: http://money.cnn.com/2014/08/08/news/companies/starbucks-israel/

[marble falls]

1. I'm boycotting for their other sins.

[4now]

2. The Boycott, Divestment and Sanction campaign is getting bigger everyday

Good for you Starbucks.

Boycott, Divestment and Sanction.
http://www.bdsmovement.net/

[George II]

3. If they did, is that something they should be ashamed of?

[kelliekat44]

4. Must have been hurting their bottom line? nt

[riverwalker]

5. BDS works Garnier "apologizes" for IDF donation

photo just circulated 4 days ago

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/gaza-strip-garnier-apologises-donating-girly-care-packages-female-idf-soldiers-1460386

[oberliner]

6. Interestingly there are no Starbucks stores in Israel

They have them in Bahrain, Cyprus, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and United Arab Emirates, but not Israel.

[Uncle Joe]

7. Do they have them any other nations, like the U.S. and stuff? n/t

[oberliner]

8. Yeah they are all over the place in the US

Israel seems to be one of the few countries where there aren't any.

[Uncle Joe]

9. What about Europe, Eastern Asia and Middle to Southern Africa? n/t

[oberliner]

10. Not sure

Can probably Google it and get the details.

[Uncle Joe]

11. You are correct, it says here that Starbucks is in 64 nations

Africa

Egypt
Morocco

North America

Aruba
The Bahamas
Canada
Curaçao
Costa Rica
El Salvador
Guatemala
Mexico
Puerto Rico
United States

Oceania

Australia
New Zealand

South America

Argentina
Brazil
Bolivia (2014)
Chile
Colombia (2014)[66]
Peru

Asia

Bahrain
Brunei
China
Hong Kong[67]
India
Indonesia
Japan
Jordan
Kuwait
Lebanon
Macau
Malaysia
Oman
Philippines
Qatar
Saudi Arabia
Singapore
South Korea
Taiwan
Thailand[68]
Turkey
United Arab Emirates
Vietnam

Europe

Austria
Belgium
Bulgaria
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Denmark
Finland
France
Germany
Greece
Hungary
Ireland
The Netherlands
Norway
Poland
Portugal
Romania
Russia
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
United Kingdom
Monaco - La Condamine

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starbucks

[oberliner]

12. Interesting

Most of Africa is left out.

[Uncle Joe]

14. Maybe poverty and/or internal warfare plays a part in their thinking?

I imagine over time they will expand more into Africa and perhaps even Israel.

[oberliner]

15. They used to be in Israel

They left in the early 2000s and have no plans to return according to the link provided.

I'm surprised they aren't in South Africa at least.

[Uncle Joe]

16. Why did they leave Israel, did it have to do with ongoing strife? n/t

[oberliner]

17. 2003 it says

Is it true that Starbucks closed its stores in Israel for political reasons?

No. We do not make business decisions based on political issues. We decided to dissolve our partnership in Israel in 2003 due to the on-going operational challenges that we experienced in that market. After many months of discussion with our partner we came to this amicable decision. While this was a difficult decision for both companies, we believe it remains the right decision for our businesses.

[Uncle Joe]

19. Well I suppose "operational challenges" could be related to strife.

Perhaps if Israel and Palestine can come to a lasting peace, they will be back?

[Mosby]

22. there are some well established coffee shops in Israel

The largest being Aroma Espresso Bar. I think they have more than 100 locations in Israel.

Starbucks was probably having trouble gaining market share.

[onenote]

23. Doubtful

Even before they left, it was known that they had a screwed up business plan in Israel. See this article from 2002.
http://www.just-food.com/analysis/what-went-wrong_id93573.aspx

[Ash_F]

13. An empire Alexander The Great would envy...

[dawn frenzy adams]

18. But don't forget!

Starbucks still uses prison labor to maximize its profits.

[freshwest]

21. Never heard of that. Please give more details.

[RiverNoord]

20. What's truly ironic

is that probably half, maybe more, of the posts on this topic (and all posts on DU) were made by people using Intel processors. Intel is huge in Israel, including a major facility in the highly problematic city of Jerusalem.

I've had to go 100% AMD at a time when Intel has had for the past several years the clear lead in power desktop and server CPUs.

A little less computing power, a clear conscience. Not a hard choice, I guess.