Campaigners claim divestment win after University dumps Starbucks as campus coffee supplier

Campaigners have claimed victory after the University of Warwick dumped Starbucks as its campus coffee supplier in favour of an independent outlet.

Citing feedback from students and staff, an announcement by the Warwick Food Group revealed it had parted ways with high street giant Starbucks, who previously supplied coffee for all University outlets.

It has instead entered into an agreement with independent coffee supplier Bridge Coffee Roasters.

This change reflects our commitment to supporting ethical and sustainable sourcing [as well as] delivering coffee that’s brewed with care for people and the planet

Warwick Food Group announcement

The Warwick Food Group announcement noted: “This change reflects our commitment to supporting ethical and sustainable sourcing [as well as] delivering coffee that’s brewed with care for people and the planet.”

Bridge Coffee will be available from most campus outlets from the first Monday of term, 6 January. The NAIC Café in the Prof Lord Bhattacharyya Building and Café Library will continue to serve Starbucks coffee until their existing stocks have been exhausted, to avoid waste.

The new supplier will further be running a “Tasting Session Roadshow” in the second week of Term 2 to celebrate its arrival on campus.

These will take place in the Gibbet Hill School of Life Sciences on 13 January, in the University House atrium on 14 January, and on the piazza on 15 January.

Bridge Coffee has also been certified as sustainable by three different organisations: the Fairtrade Foundation, Rainforest Alliance, and the European Commission.

While we commend this move, we will continue to pressure the University to divest from all other companies that participate in unethical and unsustainable business practices

Warwick Stands With Palestine spokesperson

The main catalysts for switching to Bridge Coffee were cited as “the people and the planet”. Starbucks has been deemed as a major pollutant by numerous organisations globally, such as Clean Water Action.

This led to students and staff at Warwick to campaign against having Starbucks being served on campus as it does not align with the University’s Moral values.

Starbucks was contacted for comment.

One of the main student groups that campaigned against Starbucks being served on campus was Warwick Stands With Palestine, which opposed Starbucks due to what it called the franchise’s lack of ethics towards labour unions, along with Starbucks clamping down on a labour union for expressing solidarity with Palestine.

A spokesperson for the group told The Boar: “We have long campaigned against Starbucks on campus due to its repressive policies against union activities and expressions of Palestinian solidarity, its sponsorship of environmentally destructive palm oil and coffee plantations, and the use of child labour in its supply chain.”

They added that the decision was “a tacit acknowledgement from the University that Starbucks is an unethical and unsustainable business which does not align with its ethical principles.

“While we commend this move, we will continue to pressure the University to divest from all other companies that participate in unethical and unsustainable business practices.”