Starbucks follows McDonald’s and announces formal end of ‘brand presence’ in Russia
Starbucks has formally quit Russia due to the war in Ukraine saying it no longer has a “brand presence” in the country.
The coffee giant announced the suspension of all its operations in early March, including the shipments of all its products there. It has roughly 2,000 employees in the country.
This comes after many major international companies made the decision to exit Russia in protest of the Kremlin’s war in Ukraine.
In a statement issued today, its outgoing chief executive Kevin Johnson wrote a letter to its partners saying: “Starbucks has made the decision to exit and no longer have a brand presence in the market.
“We will continue to support the nearly 2,000 green apron partners in Russia, including pay for six months and assistance for partners to transition to new opportunities outside of Starbucks.”
A week after Starbucks announced its cessation of operations in Russia two months ago, Johnson said he was leaving his role.
The chain joins McDonald’s which also announced it was ending operations, and that its existing restaurants in Russia had been bought out by a local vendor.