Sienna Taus | Student Life Editor
May 21, 2024
In the past year, Starbucks has faced numerous challenges as a company that shape how the company operates and how it is viewed by the public. They are in constant battle with the Starbucks union, which represents over 350 out of their 9,500 locations.
The public started to judge Starbucks with the release of statements in support of Palestine, immediately after they attacked Israel on October 7, 2023. These statements came from the union -Starbucks Workers United- not the business itself. There was misleading information online that got the public upset and false rumors spread that Starbucks secretly funded Israeli violence against Palestine. All of the information regarding Starbucks got the public upset from both pro-Palestine and pro-Israel groups. This led to the idea of boycotting Starbucks spreading across TikTok and other social media platforms.
Even with Starbucks speaking up, stating that the information circling the media was false, this didn’t stop the economic downfall that Starbucks has been battling since. Its stock suffered greatly, proving the boycott worked regardless of the reasons from ex-customers. Senior Mika Kuhne said, “I saw all the information online, but it was confusing to figure out what is true and what are just rumors.”
At the same time, near the end of 2023, Starbucks was fighting against union pressure about pay and working conditions. They soon got into a legal battle with the union as they continued to sue each other for multiple different reasons.
Now, in May of 2024, Starbucks was just recently forced to raise their minimum wage in California but that also ensured the raising of prices for most all items on their menu as well. So as a company, they have seen less business this year compared to the past. This may be due to the high inflation in certain areas of the world so people have less spending money and I cut back on their $7 coffees. Senior Izzy Farrell explained, “I have noticed the increase in prices and I have stopped coming as often because local coffee shops have cheaper prices for the same quality of coffee.”
Starbucks is still a worldwide trademark for coffee and will not be going bankrupt any time soon. But they have been struggling this past year and will most likely battle to keep customers with crazy discounts and BOGOS like every other day.
Leave a Reply