China: Starbucks pricing woes another hit for foreign firms

The outcry over a so-called “special investigation” into Starbucks price disparities within China is yet another blow to the operations of foreign firms in the country, reports say.

National television station China Central Television broadcast the report, which slammed Starbucks for pricing products higher than what the products cost within the US. In the report, the CCT accused the US company of relying on Chinese consumers’ “blind faith” of foreign firms” to fix their prices.

While reports of Starbucks’ high prices have circulated for years within China, this was the first time the news made national broadcast.

The accusations against Starbucks come months after a major crackdown by antitrust authorities on foreign manufacturers of baby formula for price-fixing. This time, however, Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz is unwilling to apologize as foreign firms have done before him, instead defending the higher prices as necessary for higher costs and investment in the nation.

Full content: Business Insider Australia

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