Why Is Nestlé Denying the Starbucks Coffee Service Partnership?

Nestlé has confirmed that it has no contractual relationship with Katal Supply Chain (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., the registrant of the STARPER trademark, and says the stores are suspected of trademark infringement. The company has handed the matter to the Starbucks China team. The coffee service program tied to the Starbucks name has never been open to franchising, yet counterfeit stores continue to open across small county towns.

The expansion avoids genuine Starbucks locations and concentrates on smaller cities such as Urumqi, Lhasa, Qingyang County, Sanming, and Xichang, often near tourist sites, campuses, and farms. The supply chain firm has applied for several similar trademarks, all now in substantive examination. A coffee store copying another brand's logo, menu, and pricing misleads customers and carries real legal risk.

Recently, a batch of coffee stores named "STARPER COFFEE" has quietly appeared in several small county towns across the country. Their storefront design, brand identity, and even menus are highly similar to those of Starbucks, sparking widespread attention among consumers. These stores claim to be co-branded service stations of Nestlé and Starbucks, but Nestlé has explicitly denied having any contractual relationship with the registrant of the "STARPER" trademark and pointed out that its actions are suspected of trademark infringement. Nestlé also issued a stern statement emphasizing that the "Starbucks Coffee Service" program has never been open to franchising or agency. Meanwhile, the supply chain company involved has applied for multiple similar trademarks, all of which are currently in the substantive examination stage. This article will sort out the whole incident and reconstruct the ins and outs of this brand confusion controversy.

▲

Click to follow | Daily specialty coffee culture magazine Coffee Workshop

In September of this year, Coffee Workshop published an article pointing out that many netizens had reported on social media that a coffee shop called "STARPER COFFEE" had popped up around them. From the storefront sign, brand logo, and interior decoration style to the drink names and pricing on the menu, it was exactly the same as Starbucks.

After investigation, these stores have no affiliation with Starbucks. A claim circulating in the market says they belong to Starbucks service outlets managed by Nestlé. In response to this rumor, Nestlé clarified to the media by email: there is no contractual relationship between the registrant of the "STARPER" trademark, Katal Supply Chain (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., and Nestlé (including authorized distributors). Regarding the company's trademark infringement, Nestlé has handed the matter over to the Starbucks China team.

However, as time went on, not only did these branded stores fail to disappear, but their expansion accelerated and the number of branches continued to grow. In terms of site selection strategy, they deliberately avoid genuine Starbucks stores and focus on small county towns across the country, such as Urumqi in Xinjiang, Lhasa in Tibet, Qingyang County in Chizhou, Anhui, Sanming City in Fujian, and Xichang City in Sichuan. They are distributed in tourist attractions, around campuses, and near farmers' markets.

Judging from photos taken on site by netizens, in addition to the English name "STARPER COFFEE," some store signs also feature a large green mermaid logo, the coffee menu is almost a direct copy of the original, and the cups are marked with the words "Starbucks Coffee Service." What is more, some branches have even begun selling Starbucks merchandise. Such a high degree of similarity, coupled with Starbucks' official delay in responding directly, indeed makes it easy for consumers to become confused.

Faced with outside doubts about their strong resemblance to Starbucks stores, on November 10, media reporters from Boss Live contacted staff at several STARPER COFFEE stores. The explanation given by the other side was that they belong to a co-branded service station of Nestlé and Starbucks and only sell some Starbucks products. When reporters further asked whether they were Starbucks stores, the clerk responded: "We only know that we are a coffee service point, not a directly operated store. After all, ours is a small county town, and a directly operated store cannot be opened here."

In response to this explanation, the reporter also sought verification from Nestlé's official customer service. Customer service staff said that Nestlé's cooperation business with Starbucks falls under the category of office coffee corners, and store decorations would only display the words "Starbucks Coffee Service," not the "STARPER" logo.

In fact, regarding the authenticity of such stores, Nestlé had already responded on its official WeChat account a few days earlier.

On November 8, the WeChat public account Nestlé Professional Food & Beverage published a stern statement clearly pointing out that any introduction and promotion of "Starbucks® Coffee Service" franchising published by third parties other than Nestlé is false information, and consumers and franchisees must be sure to verify it carefully.

Regarding the "Starbucks® Coffee Service" program, Nestlé added: at present, no form of franchising or agency has been opened, nor does any form of co-branded operation exist, and directly authorized distributors are not allowed to engage in any form of sub-authorization. Nestlé also directly named Katal Supply Chain (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. and Jiangsu Bohang Supply Chain Management Co., Ltd., stating that neither is an authorized distributor of Nestlé's "Starbucks® Coffee Service" program.

A search through the Tianyancha app shows that both Katal Supply Chain and Jiangsu Bohang Supply Chain mentioned in Nestlé's statement were established in 2021, and both applied this year for trademarks similar to "STARBUCKS." Among them, Katal Supply Chain applied for the "STARPER" trademark; Jiangsu Bohang applied for two trademarks, "STARKAY COFFEE" and "SHARPER." At present, the above trademarks are all in the status of awaiting substantive examination.

This recently emerged batch of "STARPER" coffee stores specifically targets small-town markets not yet covered by Starbucks and directly uses the words "Starbucks Coffee Service" on their products. What the truth of the matter actually is still awaits further explanation from Starbucks.

Disclaimer: Some images in this article are from the internet. For some content on the website, such as images, we will respect the original author's copyright and indicate the source, but due to the large quantity, a few images and texts may not have been credited in time. Please forgive us. If the original author has any dispute, they may contact the website for handling. Once verified, we will correct it immediately. Compiled and edited by "Coffee Workshop." Please indicate the source when reposting. If there is infringement, please inform us for deletion. Thank you~!

The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.