“They were giggling while looking at the monitor”—‘Mr. KIMCHI’ printed on a cup... Another racism controversy erupts at Starbucks

[Financial News] A racial-discrimination controversy has snowballed after it emerged that a Starbucks at Hong Kong International Airport served a Korean passenger a cup bearing “Kimchi” instead of his surname, “Kim.” As the controversy grew, Starbucks Hong Kong issued an official written apology several days after the incident and promised to prevent a recurrence.

According to News 1 on the 26th, a 38-year-old Korean man surnamed Kim visited a Starbucks in the departures area of Hong Kong International Airport with his wife on the evening of the 11th, before boarding a flight to Seoul. When ordering drinks, Kim gave the employee his surname in English: “Kim.”
A short while later, an employee correctly called out “Kim” and handed over the drinks, and Kim left the store without giving it a second thought. But when he checked the labels on the two drinks in front of the boarding gate, he saw “Mr. KIMCHI” clearly printed instead of “Kim.”
Remembering that two employees at the counter had been looking at the order-taking monitor and laughing together when he placed his order, Kim immediately returned to the store and protested angrily. The employee who took the order apologized, saying it was a simple input error. The on-site manager also showed him the system screen and denied any deliberate intent, saying, “After the employee entered ‘Kim,’ they accidentally clicked ‘Kimchi’ while scrolling through the list on the screen.”
Kim, however, countered that the point-of-sale system’s design made it difficult for the word to be entered through a simple scrolling error and that it appeared to require a separate input or selection, making the explanation hard to accept. He demanded a formal apology from Starbucks headquarters and measures to prevent a recurrence.
As news of the incident spread rapidly through domestic and international media and social media (SNS), fueling public criticism, Starbucks Hong Kong issued an official written apology on the 20th.

In a statement, Starbucks Hong Kong said, “We sincerely apologize for causing the customer emotional distress and concern over this incident,” adding, “Starbucks does not tolerate any form of discrimination or disrespectful conduct.” It continued, “We have reached out to apologize directly to the affected customer and will strengthen internal staff training to prevent similar incidents from happening again.”
This is not the first time the global coffee chain Starbucks has faced a racial-discrimination controversy. Last February, at a Starbucks in California, a Korean customer received a drink cup bearing the word “yellow,” a derogatory term for people of Asian descent, sparking an outcry. In 2018, at a Starbucks in Philadelphia, an employee called the police on two Black men who were waiting for their companions without ordering drinks. They were handcuffed and taken away. Amid the ensuing controversy over racial profiling, Starbucks also closed all its stores and held anti-bias training.
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