Boycott #1 Costa Coffee

Enough excuses Costa Coffee … deliberately throwing away food rather than giving it to homeless people is wrong. It’s just … tight.

I walked into a Costa at the end of the day to buy a hot chocolate for a homeless guy. I bought the drink, £3.50 or so, and also a chocolate bar. Then I noticed a tray of food, see image, which they were going to throw out.

“Can I take that and give it to the homeless guy please?”

“No.”

What follows is a predictable list of corporate excuses from the manager. It’s entirely the companies fault, not the manager, who has no authority to make the decision. ‘We might get sued’. It’s all just excuses for not doing the right thing.

This I find totally unacceptable as a justification. It’s like saying ‘health and safety’ and pretending it’s not a blanket response that translates as:

‘There’s nothing in it for us, and there’s a one in a billion chance of some imagined liability of some sort, therefor we don’t do it’.

Ultimately, a fearful, risk adverse, completely selfish mentality, passed down from the Head Office.

Why, @CostaCoffee, would you be sued? Do you think a homeless person might sue you? Because someone gave them one of your buns? For what, exactly, explain the potential scenario please?’ It’s just an excuse.

Costa Coffee. We live in a caring society, not a litigious one. We live in a society that tries to look after the poor and needy. So why can you not give the authority to your managers to be able to give away a couple of treats at the end of the day to someone who wants to pass them on to a homeless person? If you can’t do that, what hope is there?

Come on Costa Coffee, be the change, give a bit of leeway to your managers, trust them enough to be able to be charitable. You won’t ‘get sued’. You will look generous and decent. It’s common decency. Think about it.

Let them eat cake. Rather than you throwing it in the bin in front of their faces. 

Costa responded via Twitter.

‘Our policy states this must be set up by a registered charity in advance.’

To which I say … Your policy prevents spontaneous acts of kindness and makes your employees feel micro managed and guilty for sticking to your uncharitable rules.  No registered charity will be wiling able to collect 2 croissants and a sticky bun.

GIVE YOUR MANAGERS THE AUTHORITY TO BE CHARITABLE. Please.