China cracks down on fake Starbucks in stores

The authorities in China have announced a crackdown on counterfeit packs of Starbucks instant coffee on reports they are circulating in Chinese supermarkets.

A Global Times report says that stories in Nanjing, East China's Jiangsu Province and Beijing have been selling the fakes, including well-known supermarket chains Greenland Direct Global Goods and Hualian Supermarket in Nanjing, and Carrefour in Beijing. The counterfeit ‘Starbucks VIA Instant packets’ are produced by Guangzhou Baiyi Food Trading Company which has never been authorised to sell Starbucks instant coffee as a distributor, according to the news service.