{"id":1114517,"date":"2021-12-13T12:58:34","date_gmt":"2021-12-13T17:58:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1114517"},"modified":"2021-12-13T12:58:36","modified_gmt":"2021-12-13T17:58:36","slug":"fact-check-did-starbucks-say-it-was-ending-the-upcharge-for-plant-based-milk-to-fight-dietary-racism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/fact-check-did-starbucks-say-it-was-ending-the-upcharge-for-plant-based-milk-to-fight-dietary-racism\/","title":{"rendered":"FACT CHECK: Did Starbucks Say It Was Ending The Upcharge For Plant-Based Milk To Fight \u2018Dietary Racism\u2019?"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">34<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ffact-check-did-starbucks-say-it-was-ending-the-upcharge-for-plant-based-milk-to-fight-dietary-racism%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1114517&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><\/div>\n<p>A post <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/HowardWPenney\/status\/1468991808411742209\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">shared on Twitter<\/a> claims Starbucks announced it will end its upcharge on plant-based milk in early 2022.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" readability=\"10.271293375394\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Starbucks announced it will stop charging extra for plant-based milk, and instead add an upcharge on dairy milk. The change will take effect in N.A. in 2022. The decision was reportedly based on the prevalence of lactose intolerance in the POC communities. <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/search?q=%24SBUX&amp;src=ctag&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">$SBUX<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Howard W. Penney (@HowardWPenney) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/HowardWPenney\/status\/1468991808411742209?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">December 9, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span><strong>Verdict: False<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>The announcement does not appear on the Starbucks website or its Twitter account. The company confirmed the press release was fake.<\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Fact Check:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>The tweet <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/HowardWPenney\/status\/1468991808411742209\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">reads<\/a>, \u201cStarbucks announced it will stop charging extra for plant-based milk, and instead add an upcharge on dairy milk. The change will take effect in N.A. in 2022. The decision was reportedly based on the prevalence of lactose intolerance in the POC communities.\u201d Similar claims have <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/386310428839451\/videos\/377368867498564\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">also been shared<\/a> on Facebook.<\/p>\n<p>The rumor stems from a purported company press release sent out via email late last week that alleged Starbucks \u201cwill end the upcharge for plant-based milk and instead add a charge for dairy-based beverages\u201d starting in early January 2022 as part of an \u201cinitiative to eradicate dietary racism.\u201d The supposed press release also claimed Starbucks will introduce the \u201cJustice Cup,\u201d which is described as a \u201chot cup that lets customers declare their support for innovation, sustainability, and equality.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The press release, however, was not issued by Starbucks. Check Your Fact reviewed <a href=\"https:\/\/stories.starbucks.com\/press\/press-releases\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">press releases<\/a> published on the company\u2019s official website and found no matching announcement. A statement about the company removing the upcharge on plant-based milk and adding one to dairy milk also does not appear in any tweets on the <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/StarbucksNews\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">verified @StarbucksNews Twitter account<\/a>, which frequently shares news about the company.<\/p>\n<p>The alleged press release and associated website contain indicators that the announcement did not come from Starbucks. For instance, the press release included an email address affiliated with <a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20211209171720\/https:\/\/starbuckscares.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">starbuckscares.com<\/a>, a website that has no apparent connection to the company. The social media icons at the bottom of the starbuckscares.com webpage also direct users to the fake Starbucks press release rather than verified social media profiles.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis announcement is false and this website is not associated with Starbucks,\u201d a Starbucks spokesperson confirmed in an email to Check Your Fact. <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/checkyourfact.com\/2020\/06\/08\/fact-check-starbucks-free-frappuccino-shout-black-lives-matter\/\">(RELATED: Is Starbucks Offering A Free Frappuccino To Anyone Who Shouts \u2018Black Lives Matter\u2019 In One Of Its Stores?)<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Some media outlets such as Business Insider and Plant Based News originally reported on the press release as if it was real. Both later updated their <a href=\"https:\/\/www.businessinsider.com\/starbucks-is-not-ending-its-extra-charge-for-plant-based-milks-2021-12\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">respective<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/plantbasednews.org\/lifestyle\/food\/starbucks-denies-campaign-upcharge-plant-based-milk\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">articles<\/a> to reflect it was fake.<\/p>\n<p>The nonprofit <a href=\"https:\/\/switch4good.org\/about-us\/who-we-are\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Switch4Good<\/a> took <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=ATtWgFGR2W4\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">credit for<\/a> the fake press release, saying <a href=\"https:\/\/switch4good.org\/starbucks-justice-cup-campaign\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">on its website<\/a> that it \u201cbelieves charging extra for non-dairy milk is a form of dietary racism.\u201d Switch4Good also says on its website that it partnered with <a href=\"https:\/\/theyesmen.org\/about#faqit186\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">The Yes Men<\/a> to mount the \u201cundercover \u2018brandjacking\u2019 campaign.\u201d The Yes Men includes the <a href=\"https:\/\/theyesmen.org\/project\/starbuckscares\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">fake announcement<\/a> on its own website.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A post shared on Twitter claims Starbucks announced it will end its upcharge on plant-based milk in early 2022. Starbucks announced it will stop charging extra for plant-based milk, and &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":68,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1114517","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1114517","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/68"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1114517"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1114517\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1114517"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1114517"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1114517"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}