Starbucks (SBUX) -) may be the largest coffee shop in the world, but plenty of mysteries still surround the cafe.
The coffee corporation, which proudly boasts over 35,000 locations around the world, very deliberately does things its own way.
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For example, there's actually a reason that there seems to be a Starbucks on every city corner (there are actually about four main reasons, but the main one is foot traffic). Unlike many other fast food or fast casual restaurants, Starbucks also actually encourages lingering with its vast tables and melodic music. And it offers myriad choices and customizations, which at times can be pricey but it gives you the sensation that the cafe simply understands you.
Of course, Starbucks does other things to attract visitors and keep the caffeine addiction buzzing. It's reportedly sold over 600 million Pumpkin Spice Lattes (and is celebrating is 20th anniversary when it rolls out later this month).
Many rival cafes have tried to replicate it, but few have actually been able to duplicate the cult favorite recipe.
Starbucks obviously does things a little differently, and it's been working. One of the other things it does differently from other cafes is its handling of food service and meals. Many mom and pop shops might bake simple confectionaries like muffins, cakes and breads. Order one at the counter and a cashier might reach into a display case and pull out a warm blueberry muffin baked fresh that morning. You might have noticed, however, that Starbucks doesn't do this.
What happens to the food in Starbucks' display case?
Picture this. You pop into Starbucks for an afternoon pick-me-up. You order the usual Venti Americano but notice the cake pops in the display case look particularly delicious that day. Perhaps there's a new flavor you'd like to try. So you add one to your order.
You pay and circle over to the waiting area for your food and beverage to be prepared. Take a close observation at what the Starbucks barista is doing, though. You'll notice she never reaches into that display case that sold you on the cake pop in the first place.
Instead, according to a Starbucks barista known on TikTok as @Reina6554, customers get a fresh one -- not inside the case. All the food inside the display case is thrown in the trash at the end of every day.
"POV," @Reina6554 wrote in her video (POV stands for point of view). "They make us throw everything after we close."
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The video, which has since been viewed thousands of times, elicited a mixed reaction from viewers and customers.
"Put it in a clean bag for somebody to get outside," one user suggested.
"So wasteful too many hungry people to be doing that," another wrote.
"When I worked there I would put them in a bag and give to homeless," one said.
Reina6554 responded to one of the comments urging her to donate the food, saying, "If the pastries are expired and wrapped they donate them but it’s rare not a lot we can do unless we want to get fired."
Others on TikTok who claim they are baristas and Starbucks employees corroborate such claims, saying the display cases often have flies in them and are not refrigerated, so the food on display does not stay fresh.
"disclaimer: we have had flies in the case so we couldn't sell from it today," she captioned the video.
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Another TikTok user and Starbucks barista, @hayhawa says it takes her 15 minutes to set up the display case every morning at open.
"At my store we take the previous day's expired stuff and use it to display," she wrote, adding, "some stores do this every 2 days cause they're lucky."
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Starbucks says it sells or donates food when it is safe to do so, and throws the remaining stuff away when it is no longer consumable.
"All bakery items in the case are to be appropriately dated, quality standards maintained throughout the day, and are safe to sell, serve, and donate where applicable," a statement reads, adding that stores have access to donation centers when food is still good.
As for the original video of @Reina6554 tossing the food, Starbucks said, "In this video, Starbucks can confirm that the food pictured was no longer deemed safe to sell or donate per food donation standards."
