The sign on Starbucks says, “All dairy in this store is STAR-K certified Pride of the Farm Cholov Yisrael Milk, Half & Half, & Whipping Cream”. This is a Starbucks sign, not a Kashrus certificate. (based on picture from TLS)
Nowhere does it say that STAR-K is “overseeing a milk initiative”. I think the big issue nowadays is that people are not educated. All they know is that “my minhag is to keep CY”. They don’t know what this means practically when it comes to things like using open bottles in uncertified areas. All they know is that this is their minhag and it makes them frummer and better than everyone else.
Is anyone actually certifying this, or is this just relying on Starbuck’s word? It sounds from that JP quote that R’ Holland from STAR-K is putting his name on this statement which could be misleading.
You can come up with a svara that Starbucks wouldn’t lie. That the employees would theoretically get fired if they were caught, etc. Of course, svaras are a dime a dozen. The whole point of CY is not to rely on those types of svaras. Even those who do rely on R’ Moshe’s chalav stam psak can’t make up their own svaras. They have to have someone knowledgeable in halacha who can tell them when the svaras apply and when they don’t.