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Starbucks lays off 2,000 employees in the Middle East… Aftermath of anti-American boycott

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“Jewish former CEO supports Israel”
Sales take a hit despite Starbucks’ denial
KFC-McDonald’s, etc. are also struggling one after another.

An empty Starbucks store in Kuwait City, the capital of Kuwait. Photo source: ‘X’ (old Twitter)

Starbucks, which has been managed for a long time by a Jewish manager, has decided to reduce about 2,000 Middle Eastern employees. This is interpreted as the aftermath of a massive boycott in the Islamic world following the outbreak of war between Israel and the Palestinian armed group Hamas in October last year.

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According to Reuters, Alsaya Group, a Kuwaiti distribution company that owns the rights to operate Starbucks in the Middle East, announced on the 5th that it would lay off about 2,000 people, saying, “Due to the accumulated situation over the past six months, we have made the difficult decision to reduce the number of employees.” The number of layoffs represents about 10% of the total 19,000 employees at Starbucks under Alsaya. AlSaya Group operates approximately 1,900 stores in 13 countries in the Middle East and North Africa.

Since October of last year, in the Middle East, leading American restaurant brands such as KFC, McDonald’s, Pizza Hut, and Pepsi have faced strong backlash from consumers. This is because the United States unilaterally supports Israel.

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In particular, Starbucks, where the influence of Jewish former CEO Howard Schultz was strong, faced the greatest resistance. Former CEO Schultz is credited with creating today’s ‘coffee empire’ by acquiring Starbucks from its founder in 1987. Some Middle Eastern consumers made unconfirmed claims that he supported Israel after the outbreak of war. Despite Starbucks’ denial, the boycott continued.

Starbucks is in a difficult situation even in the United States. Immediately after the outbreak of war, the Starbucks union posted a post on social media expressing support for Palestine. Jewish and conservative customers protested, and the company also filed a trademark infringement lawsuit with the labor union. As this situation continues, both customers who support Palestine and those who support Israel are raising complaints.

Starbucks in Malaysia, a Muslim country in Southeast Asia, is also suffering from a sharp decline in sales. Accordingly, Starbucks recently lowered its global sales growth forecast for this year from 10 to 12% to 7 to 10%.

Meanwhile, ceasefire negotiations, which were held in Cairo, Egypt for 3 to 5 days through mediation between the United States and Qatar, ended without success. Accordingly, it appears that it will be difficult to reach an agreement on a ceasefire before the Islamic fasting holiday ‘Ramadan’, which begins on the 10th.

Israel-Palestine War

Source: Donga

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