A SHOCKING image shows a “shameless” amount of food waste sitting outside of a Starbucks shop in London.
A shocked passerby, known as Maya, captured the image of a bin bag full of unused food which she claims was found laying outside a branch in Finsbury Park, Islington.
The image shows dozens of packaged items such as sandwiches and baguettes, spilling out of the binbag.
Maya took to Twitter last month to express her anger at the shop’s “disregard” for food during the cost of living crisis.
She shared the photo, alongside a caption reading: “Nah @StarbucksUK you should be ashamed of yourselves. In this big cost of living crisis we’re in you’re just throwing away food with complete disregard, literally right outside your own stores too.
“There’s local food banks and apps like @TooGoodToGo_UK to help prevent food waste
“I’m proper disgusted by this. To do it so openly too is shameless @StarbucksUK this is the Finsbury Park branch btw.”
The post has received over 37k likes, more than 8k retweets and countless furious comments from social media users.
One comment read: “They should follow the example of Greggs whose products are often found in the food parcels I collect for clients.
“The recipients are always happy to receive these goods (they adore the sweet treats) and the food doesn’t go to waste. Simple logic Starbucks.”
Another reply said: “They do Toogoodtogo but have a spending limit. Staff aren’t allowed to take it home or donate it which should be allowed.”
However, others have defended Starbucks for disposing their food waste.
One Twitter user said: “They’re only throwing away expired food, otherwise they’d sell it. You want them to give it away and make people sick?
“Shall we criticize them for not predicting how many would sell? Or get upset with customers for not buying it all? I hope you never leave anything on your plate.”
One reply claims there is a reason for this, saying: “It was allowed at one point to donate and give the food away. However, a person who the food was donated to ended up getting sick and they sued the company for damages. Companies have since stopped donating food. Because it’s a liability.”
A spokesperson for Starbucks has said today: “We are a proud partner of Too Good To Go and are committed to playing our part in reducing food waste while also supporting our communities.
“In this instance, our licensed partner AM Coffee shared food earlier in the day with Too Good to Go and the remaining items that were out of date had to be discarded.”
