Starbucks sales improving,
says Vincent Tan citing
‘more realistic’ M’sians
The Berjaya Group founder says more customers are realising that Starbucks Malaysia is not contributing to the Israel-Palestine conflict.
Tan attributed this to consumers being more realistic about Starbucks Malaysia and the absence of any links between the company and the Israel-Palestine conflict.
“People are becoming more realistic. We can’t do anything about what Israel is doing, or what’s happening in Gaza.
“People are realising (that Starbucks Malaysia) is not hurting anyone.
“If you boycott Starbucks, how does it affect Israel? The US will send more money to them,” he told reporters after the launch of the Brahmarpanam Soup Kitchen here today.
Moving forward, the tycoon said Starbucks Malaysia will focus on consolidating its business and welcoming customers back into its stores.
Berjaya Food Bhd (BFood) faced significant challenges as the boycott of Starbucks Malaysia, sparked by the Israel-Palestine conflict, had heavily impacted its operations, given that the brand used to contribute 90% of the group’s revenue.
Three months ago, BFood denied having to permanently close more than 100 Starbucks outlets in Malaysia, saying “only a few” had ceased operations while most were only temporarily closed.
In August 2023, the company reportedly closed three Starbucks outlets permanently and temporarily suspended operations at 25 underperforming stores due to the boycott.
Starbucks is one of a number of US-based chains, including McDonalds and Burger King, that has been boycotted by Malaysians angered by the US’s support of Israel’s invasion of Gaza.
In the past, Tan had pleaded with Malaysians to stop boycotting Starbucks as it only hurt the locals running the company. About 85% of the staff were Muslims.
Berjaya on lookout for new partners for HSR
Tan said discussions were under way to find new partners for the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore high-speed rail (HSR) project.
This followed the withdrawal of Malaysian Resources Corporation Bhd (MRCB) from a consortium led by Berjaya Corporation Bhd last month.
He maintained that no decision had been made yet although the goal was to bring in “good partners” into the consortium amid interest from other companies.
MRCB was initially part of the consortium set up to put together a non-binding conceptual proposal for the project.
The consortium now consists of Berjaya Rail Sdn Bhd, Keretapi Tanah Melayu Bhd, IJM Corp Bhd, Deutsche Bahn, Hitachi Rail and Hyundai Rotem.
Separately, Tan said U Mobile Sdn Bhd was not immediately pursuing potential partnerships with Maxis Bhd or CelcomDigi Bhd to roll out the second 5G network.
However, he did not completely close the door to the possibility of working with the two telecommunications giants.
“(There are no discussions) for now but you’ll never know,” said the U Mobile chairman.
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