China Starbucks to Stop Using Supplier, Amid Milk Scandal

By LORETTA CHAO
Wall Street Journal

BEIJING -- Starbucks Corp.'s China operation has decided to stop using milk from supplier Mengniu Dairy Co., one of China's largest dairy companies, until further notice in the wake of widening poisoned milk scandal, Starbucks said in a statement early Friday.

The decision comes as authorities discovered in recent days that the industrial chemical melamine was added to a broader range of products than baby formula, which has been linked to an unusual spate of kidney stones in thousands of babies. A Starbucks spokeswoman in Shanghai said that customers in their stores have been asking about the safety of the milk used in their products.

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Colombia Juan Valdez Coffee-Shop Chain To Open Cafes In Chile

BOGOTA (Dow Jones)--The Colombian Juan Valdez coffee-shop chain has signed a deal to open about 20 stores and distribute Colombian coffee in Chile, the company said in a report this week.

The deal was reached between the Chilean Falabella group and Procafecol S.A., the holding company set up to manage the Juan Valdez brand. Procafecol is the Spanish acronym for "promoter of Colombian coffee."

The new operations include the creation of Procafecol Chile, in which the Colombian shareholders will have a 35% stake and Falabella a 65% stake, Procafecol said in a report filed to the Colombian securities regulator. A copy was obtained by Dow Jones Newswires.

Procafecol is 83.9% owned by Colombia's National Federation of Coffee Growers, or Fedecafe, and 15.19% by local coffee growers, according to Fedecafe figures.

The company currently operates 65 Juan Valdez outlets in Colombia, as well as others in the U.S. and Spain, according to the Juan Valdez Web site.

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