The story about Starbucks ending its Kosher friendly store program, is now a National story. The following is an unedited report from the Associated Press:
A leading company in Kosher certification has dropped some Starbucks drinks from its acceptable consumption list.
The Baltimore Sun reports Star-K said this month it’s dropping drinks with “syrups, sauces, toppings, powders, soy or almond milk” after the coffee behemoth ended an expanded kosher certification program with the Baltimore-based company. Starbucks’ Americanos, espressos, cold brew coffee and iced lattes remain on Star-K’s kosher list.
Rabbi Zvi Holland oversees Star-K’s certification of Starbucks. He says the Seattle-based chain teamed up with Star-K to create a compliance program in late 2015. He says he thinks Starbucks ended it because “it’s hard for them to stick to.”
Starbucks didn’t respond to the newspaper’s request for comment. An online petition calling for the reinstatement of the compliance program had amassed 8,900 signatures by Monday.
(AP)
Join the official YWN WhatsApp status
51 Responses
If we were black, didn’t ever buy anything but complained about the softness of the toilet tissue, then Starbucks would sit up and listen. But for a group of paying customers, who cares?
Starbucks owner was proud of his story with R Finkel
But it went only so far
” He says he thinks Starbucks ended it because “it’s hard for them to stick to.”
Would anyone prefer they cut corners? They shared info with the Star-K, there was no mashgiach or supervision in place.
Another misleading YWN headline. Was Starbuck’s actually a “kosher” company before this? Not really, it tried to cater to the kosher consumer but it has served treif for the longest time which has caused the issue with cleaning the treif preparation items along with the other items.
Star bucks never had a hechsher and star k never gave one. Nothing changed!
A compliance program is not a hechsher. This is fake news!
What does BLACK have to do with anything you ignoramus?
Disgusting comment. No small wonder the world hates us.
BTW learn to write, your sentence is disjointed. I hope you don’t speak like that.
Lets not forget that we Yidden and we don’t need every type of food and drink. Look at the Ramban in the beginning of parshas Kedoishim.
Firstly, TREIF???? I think that is a little strong.
Second, shouldn’t the link to the petition be included in the article to help obtain more signatures?
Ach! The food was terrible and the portions were so small!
Those that care about kashrus do not rely on Star-K.
The International Kosher certifiers are stopping to use Star-K ingredients.
“Those that care about kashrus do not rely on Star-K.”
What? Are you going to say you only eat things that bear an “ethical hechsher” from YCT?
Is it true what other people are saying that stam coffee was always treif there, and tons of Yidden were just drinking it in error? If so, then this media hype right now is the best thing that could ever happen to stop people from continuing drinking it.
Wow, what do they do now to make it Treif? Do the insert a few drops of Chazer into every cup?
Has anyone ever gone to a Starbucks in Eretz Yisroel. Does anybody wonder why there are no Starbucks there?
Allan +1
The racism certain people in our community sometimes exhibit must be condemned at every turn.
yudel, it isn’t often that one small sentence can be used to discredit and slander so many fine people so effectively while superficially presenting as taking the moral high ground, but you’ve done it.
Yudel I totally disagree with your comment. I know many people who rely on the Star-K.
yudel
July 17, 2018 3:00 pm at 3:00 pm
Those that care about kashrus do not rely on Star-K.
—————————–
Yudel,
Would u be ok if starbux only served hebrew national?
No loss, their coffee is disgusting
Allan, stop being so PC. You understand exactly what BLACK has to do with everything unless you don’t read the news. I’m sorry if my sentence was too disjointed for your simple mind.
I won’t miss it, never went into a Starbucks. Not my thing.
@It is Time for Truth I read in a different news comment that the previous Jewish CEO stepped down.
@Neville ChaimBerlin yes.
@yudel you dare be mevazeh Rav Heiniman, during the nine days of all times? Nothing is wrong with the Star K. If your machmir fine, but your comment is an insult to the talmidei chachamim that work there and the yidden that by every right rely on it.
Ratner’s Restaurant thrived so long as it was serving Kosher for its 1st 98 years. But as soon as it went non-Kosher, withing 2 years, this century old business went out of business. Maybe Starbucks may also go down this curve.
Re Hebrew national, did you see the letter from Rav belsky re Hebrew national products? He praises the certifying agency, etc.
Yudel Shain knows everything better than everyone.
He of course knows more about Kashrus than anyone else, and everyone else is a nobody serving treif to the masses.
He is aa better Mohel, and has no issues bashing Mohalim that follow their Gedolim and Poskim, who know way more than Yudel will ever know.
He is better than hatzolah, better than any chevra kaddish, better than any Rosh yeshiva, better Mayor in Lakewood, knows more about anything and everything than anyone else.
I should add, he IS also a much bigger MOSER than anyone else, and proudly brags about how he was Moser on BMG. Yet he flaunts his face and prances into BMG to daven at the Vasikin Minyan every day as if nothing is wrong.
He is a very sick man.
He also loves to bash anyone that does anything illegal and steals, yet when it’s his own family, the silence is deafening. OH RIGHT! That family member was ALSO a MOSER.
Mesira in the Shain family is condoned.
Ain’t nothing “SHAIN” about the Shain Mishpacha.
I too was gonna say…..
There is likely only one yidel (possibly not) with the name “yudel” who would write such a stupid comment. The comment written by “Borderline Personality Disorder” states his name very clearly so I don’t need to repeat. I think that comments description is very very on target as well. So we can leave it at that. I believe he lives to be a thorn in others side.
I feel I must protest. YWN why are you allowing comments that cause sinas chinam. We are in the 9 days. The comments above are hurtful and mean and do not promote ahavas chinom. Yidden, who cares about Starbucks?! It’s time we spoke to each other in softer tones, without humiliating others and remembering shemiras haloshen! Please, please take note! We’re waiting for Moshiach!
The major kashrus organizations finally realized that the star k is a bluff to put it mildly. Time to wake up and smell the coffee.
After 120 if you are a namin, you will meet your maker and he’ll question you why you relied on the star k ? You’ll shrug your shoulders and exclaim “I didn’t know”, well now you will not have that teretz anymore, because yudel shain told you and he’s been batting 100.
Re cedarbridge, get your facts straight. Bmg sued yudel shain, not the other way around. Just look at all of the court docs.
Harav Moshe Shterbuch, Shlita sent a letter that we should publicize “not to rely on Star-K kashrus.
Re: Star-K shabbos friendly appliances, one may transgress serious Shabbos / Yom Tov issurim.
Rav Shlomo Miller and numerous others put out a letter re: forbidding to use the Star-K shabbos friendly appliances.
Do Teshuva now, avoid the Ellul rush.
Uncle Benny says: “Ach! The food was terrible and the portions were so small!”
So right Benny….as I’m sure you are a culinary expert on their treifus food which has generally been well received for the limited menu they offer in thousands of outlets that is prepared in a central kitchen. Who wants a healthy and modest portion of a granola bar or whole grain muffin when they really should be offering big bowels of salty and fatty chulent and chopped herring sandwiches with their frapuccinos. Yes Benny, any convenience food offerings that don’t include at least 300 percent of your daily caloric limit and can be eaten with a spoon rather than a shovel should be assur.
Yudel, where was Rav Shternbuch Shlita’s letter condemning the Star K? Where was it publicized? How come I never saw it? Can you attach a genuine copy please?
Interesting that the Chassidishe hechsherim still rely on the Star K, especially with shredded lettuce & garden salad from Fresh Express. Their silly stupid yellow sticker of their their own that they slop on to each package of lettuce (whether Fresh Express or Dole, under the OK) to give it a Chassidishe kook, is pathetic.
One final note: Did you ever apologize to the Rubashkin family for all your efforts to have Reb Shalom thrown in prison?
listen to a shiur 6 or 7 years ago by r. aryeh Lebowitz. search for Starbucks on yu torah around the time of the crc issur.
there are no Starbucks in Israel for commercial reasons – local coffee houses are preferred. i love Starbucks coffee; my wife does not.
ain lehitvakheaich al hataam ve’hareiach.
Cups Bring McDonald’s, Starbucks Together
The companies are teaming up to find a fully recyclable, compostable coffee cup, and are inviting competitors to join them.
July 18, 2018
Recycle used treif cups? Kosher certified by…….? you guessed it “Baltimore based”
“because yudel shain told you and he’s been batting 100.”
Halfway to the Mendoza line.
Rav shternbuchs letter was publicized on my blog. It was sent to all members of AKO. The star k has a copy of it, ask them for it.
The poskim in EY, do not agree with Rabbi Heinemann and his psak regarding the gram used for the Shabbos mode. I do not recall that they said anything regarding the kashrus of the food establishments he certifies.
grama*
BTW- It’s not a grama, it’s very direct, just you don’t see the internal workings.
It’s like using a computer but the screen is shut off. That aen’t a grama in my book.
I think you will be hard pressed to find a Posek who agreed with Rav Heinemann about the Shabbos mode appliances. It is also my impression (although I may be wrong about this) that Rav Heinemann himself advises people not to rely on his opinion as it is a דעת יחיד. That said, he is certainly a highly respected תלמיד חכם and entitled to his opinion.
As iacisrmma points out, this is all completely unrelated to the Star-K’s Kosher certification, which is held in near-universal high esteem.
Were it not for the importance of protecting the reputation and livelihood of the fine people at Star-K and their consumers, yudel would not deserve a response.
I have rav shternbuchs letter.
yudel: I am sorry but I have a sabbath mode oven and I see that even when in regular mode, there is no immediate effect on the starter itself. There is a delay from pressing the start bottom until the starter ignites. You are saying that the numbers are still being changed when in the shabbos mode or is the grama the ignition of the starter? Even without that, the sabbath mode still overrides other features that one does not want active on yom tov. In 2008, after the poskim announced not to rely on it, Rabbi Heinemann stated that one should not change the temperature but use it for all the other features it overrides.
for all you budding talmidei chachamim, there are three definitions of grama in the modern-day beginning with rav moshe sofer almost 200 years ago. some devices have dealt with requirements of all three; some have not. the role of the probabilty of repeated attempts in halakha is relatively new and still debated. for example, if one attempt fails on occasion but 3 tries all fail less often than a miut sheaino matsui, and ten attempts fail less often then me being able to run a 5-minute mile, what is the halakha??
It is very distressing that you allow people to make comments that attack one another. Allowing attacks on major Talmidei Chachomim is even more serious. There are appropriate ways to discuss disagreements in Halocha. Being that you call yourselves TheYeshivaWorld it is even more important that you live up to Torah standards.
There is an immediate electrical action, then there is a delayed reaction for the ultimate intended result.
That first reaction is not a grama.
The fact that there is a built in delayed reaction, may be is not either a grama.
The fact you don’t see an action, it’s as if your computer screen is off, but the computer is doing it’s job.
Yudel are you aware that saying lashon hara about tzadikim like Rav heineman is even worse then stam lashon hara. I also think that you should be more carefull during the nine days were we focus on being nice to fellow jews please apalojise right now to rav heineman shlita and the entire star k
Hope the next article we argue about is the Mexican Bimbo company buying a suburbian Philadelphia bread company and dumping it’s kosher certification.
I can’t even buy a regular loaf of white bread anymore.
To 147. I hope you are joking or otherwise really naïve about the comparison of Starbucks to Ratners. The latter derived a very significant amount of its historic revenue to those who were shomer kashrus and wanted a location to eat outside their homes in the days before we had so many kosher dining options. The kosher customer revenues to Starbucks probably were a rounding error as a percentage of their $6 billion in revenues so this decision will have ZERO affect on their financial results.
Yn is not allowing my appologies.