Shaadi.com founder and Shark Tank India judge, Anupam Mittal, slammed the coffee giant, Starbucks, on X after it replaced Indian-origin CEO Laxman Narasimhan with Chipotle CEO Brian Niccol days after Narasimhan said he "almost never" worked past 6 pm.
The Shark Tank India judge claimed that Starbucks sells coffee with high levels of sugar, suggesting it is more harmful than tobacco.
Mittal wrote on X, “Starbucks continued value erosion is inevitable unless they go back to their roots or reinvent their raison d’etre. Right now they are less of a coffee shop and more of a dessert store with criminal levels of disguised sugar making people sick. Probably more toxic than tobacco”
Social Media Reaction:
Online users are showing mixed reactions to Mittal’s post.
One user wrote, “India is a lower-middle income country and if you talk to a regular guy about sugar in food products, most probably he/she will laugh at you.
People are not health conscious, all they care about is taste.”
Another user commented, “Now India have a reason to #BoycottStarbucks. How dare you fire an Indian CEO.”
A third user replied, "@StarbucksIndia is too inclined to Indianise the products from chai lattes to picco sizes to Sanjeev Kapoor wraps and sandwiches. I would never go to Starbucks for Indian food or beverages. They should stick to their legacy products which bought them where they are. To top it the offers and deals for regular Indian consumers are lesser and lesser value for money lately."
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