Starbucks Will Donate All of Its Unsold Food to America’s Needy

Discussion in 'The Cocktail Lounge' started by Rainman, Mar 23, 2016.

  1. remnant

    remnant Well-Known Member

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    If everyone including individuals emulated the benevolent action by Starbucks, the world would be a happier place to live in. I have witnessed the well to do dump excess but unspoilt food while poor neighbours live next door. Starbucks' action will have a positive dividend. It will make people to soul search. A little goes a long way. I hope a similar programme is in the offing for the world countries.
     
  2. 3rdparty

    3rdparty Member

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    yay, praise the corporation for an ethical gesture. seriously though this should be a thing done everywhere, and only fear of some imaginary liability keeps corporations from doing the right thing.
     
  3. crimsonghost747

    crimsonghost747 Senior Investor

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    it's an "imaginary liability" until someone eats the thing, gets sick and sues the company for millions. There have been a lot of similar (ie. incredibly stupid) things in the USA so the companies aren't taking the risk. Meanwhile in Europe, I believe the stores aren't allowed to hand out products which are beyond the expiry date.
     
  4. gracer

    gracer Senior Investor

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    This is wonderful news! A lot of food are indeed being wasted from fast food chains and restaurants every day and what better way to make good use of them but to give them to the needy. I think this is one way of giving back for all the money that Starbucks has already earned and it would be good to hear more of these kind of deeds from other businesses in the same category in the future too. :)
     
  5. Alex

    Alex Senior Investor

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    It does depend on how they distribute the food. I used to help with some charities and what they do is go around in a van and pick up the food from the establishments which saves time.

    Obviously it will depend on the location too, and is subject to whether any food is left over as often there isn't. Those fears of people suing were merely a ploy because they thought staff would try to take the food for free among other scenarios. I have seen some gas stations throw out huge bag fulls of food, and they really should donate it as gas stations always have a surplus.
     
  6. briannagodess

    briannagodess Well-Known Member

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    This is great news and I hope other food establishments would follow soon. With regards to the fear of people suing them, maybe have the charity sign a waiver contract? Provided of course that the food that they give are only a day old and not more than that. Plus, if the food is kept on the fridge, I don't see why it can get rotten that easily. Usually, in tropical countries like mine, that's where food spoilage happens easily since the heat and humidity makes the chemical reaction double.

    In any case, I'm sure the less fortunate people would be more than happy to receive these food donations. I mean, from where I am, street children even eat food from garbage! So how can a day old food be less sanitary than that? And besides, foods from well-known establishments have at least some standards.

    And if the food is deemed inedible for human consumption, can it be donated to animal shelters? I mean, animals have far better digestive systems than us.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Jul 8, 2016
  7. crimsonghost747

    crimsonghost747 Senior Investor

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    As I said earlier, it's only "a ploy" until someone does it and the company is forced to pay millions. Why do you think the coffee cups say "danger, hot liquid inside" nowadays? Because a company paid millions when someone poured hot coffee on themselves and sued the company. There is currently a lawsuit going on where a mother accuses RedBull of killing her child who died of heart problems. Even if she doesn't win this case (she most likely won't, then again I said the same thing about the coffee case!) the company is still facing bad publicity and of course costs related to the legal process etc.
     
  8. erook7878

    erook7878 Well-Known Member

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    That's great to hear that they will be donating their unsold food. I heard they were hesitant on donating their unsold food because of potential lawsuits. If someone gets sick, they could be on the hook for that. I wonder if they made an agreement where they won't be able to sue them if someone gets sick from the donated food.
     
  9. Alex

    Alex Senior Investor

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    The fact is people can get sick from food regardless these days whether it's a shirt date or not. There are other circumstances such as how is the food kept which can make a difference. The pros outweigh the cons, and it is highly unlikely a homeless charity will sue a company who donates food. I have worked in homeless shelters and many places donate food directly and there are no issues.
     
  10. pwarbi

    pwarbi Senior Investor

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    Here in the UK, I've also worked in homeless shelters and food banks, and there's hardly ever any issues with the quality of food. If there is, it's quickly dealt with before it's even handed out to that person.

    It's not just a case of homeless people coming and helping themselves, the shelters and food banks are run as well as any other businesses are.
     

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