Starbucks’ corporate headquarters is seen in this Monday, Jan. 26, 2009, file photo taken, in Seattle.Starbucks to pay $2 billion to Kraft
An arbitrator has concluded that Starbucks must pay $2.76 billion to settle a dispute with Kraft over coffee distribution.
The two consumer products companies had been locked in a fight for three years after Starbucks Corp. fired Kraft as its distributor of packaged coffee to grocery chains.
The arbitrator determined that Starbucks must pay $2.23 billion in damages and $527 million in attorney fees, Starbucks and Mondelez said Tuesday.
Kraft began exclusively marketing Starbucks roasted and grounded coffee in stores in 1998 and renegotiated the contract in 2004.
The contract was set to expire in 2014. But in November 2010, Starbucks told Kraft it was severing its agreement with Kraft.