A SUPPOSEDLY staunch supporter of the BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) Malaysia had apparently thanked Malaysians on the X platform for their strong backing which led to “over 100 Starbucks outlets ceasing operations” in the country.
Thank You Malaysians 🇲🇼🩶🇵🇸 pic.twitter.com/RnvSrQ5xio
— Ryan Rozbiani (@RyanRozbiani) October 30, 2024
But his joy was short-lived as a commenter pointed that he has erred in the information that he shared.
The brouhaha was sparked by opposition-slant news portal MalaysiaNow which featured an article claiming that over 100 Starbucks outlets in Malaysia have been forced to shut down their operations either permanently or temporarily some six months after a similar fate befell fast food chain KFC.
Alongside KFC and McDonald’s, the premium coffee chain is among American brands affected by a global boycott to protest Washington’s military aid to Israel’s genocidal war in the occupied territories.
MalaysiaNow further claimed that this latest development came about two months after Berjaya Food Bhd which is Starbucks Malaysia’s licensee reported a net loss of RM91.5 million in its FY6/2024 with revenue falling 35% from RM1.1 bil to RM730.3 mil on the back of boycott spree that has been on-going since October 2023 due to Israel-Gaza war.
Oblivious to the poster, however, Starbucks Malaysia had on Tuesday (Oct 29) denied claims by MalaysiaNow that it has shut more than 100 Starbucks outlets across Malaysia.
“The claim that more than 100 Starbucks outlets in Malaysia have been shut down is false. While we’ve ceased operations at only a few stores, most of the allegedly closed locations are only temporarily closed,” a Starbucks Malaysia representative told Business Times.
Interestingly, despite the claim of over 100 Starbucks outlets having ceased operations due to boycott being inaccurate, what is intriguing is that boycotters are now seemingly associating the subject of boycotting to supporting home-grown coffee chains.
A look at Berjaya Food share price, meanwhile, showed that the Starbucks’ franchise rights owner was up 2 sen or 4.55% at 45.5 sen with 2.59 milli0n shares traded at the time of writing, thus valuing the company at RM896 mil. – Nov 1, 2024
