Jorgen Bodum, CEO of Bodum USA, said his company's relationship with Starbucks was based on the "mutual respect" between himself and former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, which degraded when Schultz stepped down.
“Our relationship with Starbucks was built on the mutual respect between Howard and myself," Bodum told Globe Banner. "Once he left, Starbucks leadership continually sought to cut costs at the expense of quality - and also in direct contradiction to our existing contract."
"It was clockwork," he said. "Schultz stepped down and new leadership acts as if quality and contracts don’t matter."
The two companies started their partnership when Schultz first became CEO in 1986 and created a connection with Bodum. The two agreed, first informally and then in contract, to build their brands together, focusing on high quality and a customer first mantra. Starbucks' initial breach of the contract occurred after Schultz stepped down in 2000. Schultz returned as Starbucks CEO in 2008 and reconnected with Bodum, resulting in a confidential settlement and a renewed partnership.
After Schultz stepped down again in 2017, issues arose when Starbucks' suppliers began infringing on Bodum's intellectual property in 2018, leading to another lawsuit in 2019.
The latest lawsuit was filed by Bodum against Starbucks in June of 2024, according to a report in BloombergLaw. Bodum USA Inc. and its subsidiary Pi-Design AG are suing Starbucks for allegedly selling a French press coffeemaker that infringes on Bodum's patented design and violates an exclusive seller agreement. The lawsuit, filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, claims Starbucks' product mimics Bodum's patented "Plunger-Filter Beverage-Making Machine with a Closable Pouring Opening" and breaches a 2008 settlement agreement where Bodum was designated as Starbucks' exclusive supplier.
Starbuck's new CEO Brian Niccol's first official day in office was Monday, September 9. Niccol is the former chairman and CEO of Chipotle, and his appointment by the company was announced in an August press release.
According to an April 30 press release, Starbucks' earnings had dropped 2% in Q2 2024, with net revenue down 2% to $8.6 billion.
On July 30, Starbucks reported quarterly revenue below analysts' expectations in Q3, with net sales dropping 1% to $9.11 billion, compared to the expected $9.24 billion. The coffee giant's net income was $1.05 billion, or 93 cents per share, down from $1.14 billion, or 99 cents per share, a year earlier. U.S. traffic fell by 6%. Starbucks is exploring strategic partnerships in China to accelerate growth and opened 526 net new stores during the fiscal quarter.
Daily Coffee News reported in August that Balmuccino, a former Los Angeles-based company, is suing Starbucks for the third time, alleging that the coffee giant stole confidential product development details for coffee-themed lip balms. The lawsuit claims that during a 2017 meeting arranged by Howard Schultz and Dr. Mehmet Öz, Starbucks executives refused to sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement but assured Balmuccino that the information would be kept confidential. Despite previous lawsuits being dismissed, Balmuccino contends that Starbucks used their proprietary information to develop and launch a line of Frappuccino-themed lip balms in 2019.