Starbucks Extends Coffee Support Activities for Disease Control Headquarters Call Center Counselors

Starbucks partners are preparing coffee to deliver to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency 1339 call center.

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Saeng-hye] Starbucks Coffee Korea announced on the 16th that it will extend and expand its coffee support activities for the Disease Control Headquarters 1339 call center counselors, which have been ongoing since mid-last month, until the end of March.

Since the 17th of last month, Starbucks has been conducting volunteer activities by delivering 500 cups of coffee made daily by partners with messages of encouragement on weekdays to three locations: the Disease Control Headquarters 1339 Yeongdeungpo Call Center, Gwacheon Call Center, and the National Health Insurance Service Yeongdeungpo Branch, which cooperates with the 1339 call centers. On weekends, they have been delivering stick-type ground coffee called VIA and muffins.

Starbucks planned this donation activity at the beginning of last month, during the early domestic spread of COVID-19. Although the donation was initially scheduled for two weeks, the period has been extended, and the donation scope has been expanded from the existing Seoul and Gyeonggi area 1339 call centers to include the 1339 Wonju Call Center and 1339 Busan Call Center nationwide.

Although issues regarding the call center working environment have recently emerged, Starbucks judged that support for the 1339 call centers, essential institutions for public safety as the COVID-19 situation prolongs, is increasingly necessary.

Starting from the 16th, with the reinforcement of counseling staff at the existing three call centers, the daily coffee donation volume will increase from 500 to 600 cups. Since the 9th, support has begun at the 1339 Wonju Call Center, providing 250 cups of coffee daily on weekdays. The 1339 Busan Call Center is also scheduled to start related support such as VIA this week. Additionally, VIA and muffins will be delivered to counselors who continue working on weekends, further expanding the support scope.

Coffee delivered to the Seoul and Gyeonggi areas is brewed daily by partners at the Starbucks Support Center (headquarters), while coffee delivered to the Wonju Call Center is brewed daily by baristas in the Wonju area. These are delivered with messages of encouragement in the name of 17,000 Starbucks partners to counselors who find it difficult to take even a proper coffee break amid the urgent situation.

The total coffee Starbucks will deliver to call centers over six weeks from the 17th of last month to the end of this month will reach 17,000 cups, equal to the total number of Starbucks partners nationwide.

Song Ho-seop, CEO of Starbucks, said, “Rather than one-time support, this activity means to overcome COVID-19 together by continuously delivering coffee filled with our partners’ encouragement.” He added, “Going forward, all 17,000 partners nationwide will unite their hearts and spare no active support and encouragement to wisely overcome this crisis.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.