A local market regulator in the eastern Chinese city of Wuxi, Jiangsu Province, fined Starbucks 1.36 million yuan ($210,000) for adjusting ingredient shelf life and using expired ingredients in two of its outlets there.
A public announcement was recorded by the National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System. In the information released, we can see that two stores were fined around 1.36m yuan in total. The statement said:
According to the surveillance video in the store, workers tampered, replaced and destroyed shelf life labels for food ingredients, and continued to use expired ingredients.
In December 2021, Starbucks admitted to the failings and said it would conduct an internal investigation.
The company is under increased pressure after formally assumed defunct rival, Luckin Coffee, has made a surprising and vigorous recovery.
High-profile US companies operating in China, like Starbucks, worry they might get pulled into the geo-political rows between the two countries.