Fast Food Scandal Analysis
Article Number 1 Title: “There May Be a Little Poop in Your Starbucks Iced Coffee”
Author: Clint Rainy
Date of Article: March 1, 2017
Summary of Topic:
What are faecal coliforms? These are microscopic bacteria which originate from human waste. In other words, the intestines of warm-blooded animals. Such bacteria often pollute water sources however in the case of the following article, faecal coliforms were found in the ice of the Starbucks food franchise. The issue with faecal coliforms is that their presence in water indicates the presence of other more dangerous bacteria, it is this more dangerous bacteria that causes water-borne diseases such as cholera or typhoid which is deadly. (Washington State
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(Rainy, 2017)
Article Analysis:
The scandal affecting Starbucks in this particular article directly links to the business topic of marketing and more specifically, the Consumer Protection Act (CPA) no.68 of 2008. Traces of faecal bacteria do not belong in beverages. What this scandal says about the Starbucks franchise is that it is negligent, unsanitary and ultimately does not care for the well-being of its consumers. According to the CPA, which is a legal document that protects the rights of consumers, “Consumers have the right to fair value, good quality and safety of goods and services”. Unfortunately, the scandal in the article is an infringement of those rights because the iced coffee at Starbucks was of poor quality and had the potential to make customers very sick.
The following is not mentioned in the article; however, I think that after such an infringement, that particular Starbucks franchise will most probably be under close surveillance and have spontaneous checks from the food industry regulators from the UK. This will negativity affect staff as they will always be feeling on edge.
In addition to that, Starbucks will have to also make an effort and spend money in terms of minimizing the effects of the negative publicity it gained. Not only was the brand exposed, but it was exposed of national television in the UK. Such exposure will reduce consumer confidence because the buyers behaviour has been negatively influenced
America is known as the fattest country in the world. Is fast food the culprit? According to the article, "F as in Fat 2005," America's obesity rate in 2005 was a whopping 60%. Many people believe that this is due to the increasing popularity in fast food. It is much easier to go through a drive through and pick up a meal than making the food yourself. When eating out, people are more likely to eat more than when they cook. Meals at fast food and restaurants have become popular, in America the size of each meal is significantly bigger than any other country. According to Christina Sarlch, author of “Guess How Many Calories Are In A Typical Fast Food Meal” the amount of calories in a fast food meal is a gouging 1100 calories with a drink .The average number of calories needed for a person is 2000-2500 calories . Split between 3 meals that averages out to 666.67-833.33 calories a meal. Of course not many people follow that suggested calorie intake.
When working at a fast food restaurant, more often than not it is accompanied with a stigma. People tend to believe that those who work in fast food restaurants are not capable of anything better. They assume people working at fast food restaurants are slow and uneducated, or they simply look down upon them because these jobs have become known as "dead-end jobs." This so-called "dead-end job" is what people might describe as low-wage labor that employees have a susceptibility to become trapped in. Fast food employee’s face many challenges, morally and socially.
The All-American meal takes more out of Americans to make then at first glance. Eric Schlosser’s book Fast Food Nation delves deep into the intricate workings of the fast food industry to expose mistreatment and cruelty towards workers in the business, just as Upton Sinclair had done in the early 1900’s regarding the meat packing industry. Schlosser is able to bring light to the darkness behind the All-American meal through extensive research and personal confrontations of which he has high regards for.
Fast food is exactly how it sounds: food that can be quickly produced for a simple meal. Although they may be satisfactory, they are anything but healthy. Eating fast food is appetizing which is one of the main reasons it is so popular. Not only does it taste good to many, but it is inexpensive, too! America is the number one place for fast food. There are over 160,000 fast food restaurants in the United States and over 50 million Americans are served fast food daily. The frequency of eating fast food is also a problem because according to statisticbrain.com 44 percent of Americans confessed to consuming fast food once per week. What people do not realize is the harm that fast food is doing to their body. Not only is fast food a
From a study completed by Chicago-based Research International USA completed a study called “Fast Food Nation 2008. The panel consisted of 1,000 respondents of ages 16-65 who provided their inputs with an online survey which was conducted between March 13 through 2008. Which was based on results on fast food restaurants like McDonald’s, Burger King, and Wendy’s are gaining popularity even through the economic hardship and recession. Marketing strategy has become more of influence on kids and young American’s. As population grows and the demand increases of fast food restaurants are expanding their stores to capturing more consumers. Fast food chains are also willing to change their menus to continue to gain and retain repeating customers.
While their customers are an uncontrollable force, Starbucks can control how they respond to customers. In June of 2014 I went to a Starbucks drive-thru and received a drink that was mostly milk when I had asked for light milk. When I asked them to remake my drink the Barista told me they were too busy and I would need to drive around and re-order – this directly conflicts with the SBP “Love your beverage or let us know. We'll always make it right” (“Our Barista Promise”). Instead I took my milky drink, snapped a picture and uploaded it to the Starbucks Facebook page. Within 10 minutes there were multiple comments on the post, and a Starbucks representative asking me to send them my
The fast food industry provides quick, cheap, and easy access to foods that in the customers opinion, is very delicious, and affordable, however this food which millions of people around the world are constantly consuming, could actually cause major health problems, and weight gain in the long run. Major fast food companies throughout the world know what they are doing when it comes to marketing towards all types of people. Some people will find numerous different things to blame for the epidemic of fast food making individuals overweight. In recent research on, or discussions of the fast food industry having an effect on people's health, a controversial issue has been raised, and that is the fact that this problem affects not only
The world economy has become fast-paced, and this has forced people to transform their lifestyle in order to adapt to the changing pace. Family structures have evolved drastically with modern mothers having outside careers rather than being housewives. Granted such mothers get out of work worn out with little strength to prepare a proper meal for the family. They often opt for an easier way of preparing a meal for their families. This is the foundation for the thriving of the fast food industry. A number of nations have been transformed to fast food nation with American society being on the lead followed by Britain. American hosts the largest fast food industry in the world with outlets in over 200 foreign nations. With conveniences around
Starbucks is known for their Frappuccino’s; unfortunately they are on a downward spiral in sales due to competitors such as McDonalds. In 2008 Starbucks admits to its losses due to their competitors. “Company executives now freely admit that such thinking is largely to blame for the woes that led to Tuesday’s announcement that Starbucks will close 600 U.S. stores and eliminate thousands of jobs. The coffee giant’s missteps have come at a spectacularly bad time, hitting as the economic slump deepens and consumers are seeing their discretionary spending eaten up by rising gas prices and grocery bills (Linn).”
Starbucks Corporation is a multinational coffee conglomerate that opened their first store in Seattle’s Pike Place Market in Seattle, Washington in 1971. Over the course of the next 40 years, Starbucks has grown in leaps and bounds in not only opening more stores domestically and internationally but also in selling a variety of some of the world’s best coffee and tea blends available. The selling of Starbucks products does not only happen in their stores, it also happens in grocery, convenient, and specialty stores across the world. With the growth of the Starbucks Corporation came the responsibility of ethical and financial compliance to their organization, their shareholders, and the multitude of government agencies they deal with
While McDonald’s and Burger King have fought over a percentage of the same market share, each company has a unique strategy with which they’ve approached the market. McDonald’s aims to deliver an inexpensive, standard, quality meal with high level of uniformity both in burger structure and in delivery times. Burger King also strives for an inexpensive, quality meal, but focuses on allowing the customer a degree of flexibility in the menu – a goal reflected in their long-time slogan, “Have it your way.” This difference results in distinct objectives for each restaurant that resonate
Please answer all the following questions as they relate to the case. Please utilize as much outside resources as you deem necessary to reinforce your answers—especially the last question. Remember that this case is over 10 years old and Starbucks has changed since then.
Starbucks dates back from 1971 and is based in Seattle, Washington. The company was founded by Gordon Bowker, Jerry Baldwin and Zev Siegl and it
Starbucks is renowned for its morality due to their innovative sustainability and environmental policies and operations. They strive to go beyond mandated regulations by implementing ethics as part of their core practices. However, no matter how flawless their code of ethics is; they, too, face ethical issues and commit unethical acts. First, they are responsible for putting small, local coffee shops out of business which creates a uniform retail culture throughout cities. Second, they advertise to provide 100% fair trade coffee when it is not truly 100% fairly traded. Third, they use hormone added milk that is detrimental to the human body as well as the environment. Fourth, they set unrealistic, unattainable recycling goals, so they were unachievable; in turn, their trustworthiness is hindered and their reputation is tarnished. Lastly, it was revealed that Starbucks discovered ways to avoid paying taxes in the UK. To this day, Starbucks continues to be recognized as an ethical company. Although sometimes controversial, they are innovatively striving to positively change the ways of society and business operations.
Factors in the global environment provide both opportunities and strengths for Starbucks. Opportunities such as increased revenues, further expansions, and achieving their goal of becoming the most respected brand worldwide. Starbucks also faced threats. These threats include dealing with growing antiglobalization overseas and their huge risk of less return on each overseas store, this deriving from overseas operations being run by local partners instead of Starbucks