Starbucks Employee Throws Away Loads of Packaged Pastries During Closing

Despite criticism of being “basic” and always finding a way to remain in the news, Starbucks has been a reliable source of refreshment for me through college and beyond. Their lemonade-based drinks and tempting pastries are always worth a visit.

So when one of the company’s employees, Aidan Stockin, who goes by @aidanstockin on TikTok, shared what happens when no one buys one of Starbucks’ treats, pure outrage commenced in the comments section.

Keep reading to find out what happened!

Hopefully, I’m not alone, but I’ve always wondered what happens to the items nobody buys in stores. Thankfully, many employees at establishments like Starbucks and other restaurants use their TikTok accounts to give social media users all the behind-the-scenes tea they may or may not have wanted to know.

In June 2023, Aidan, who works at a Starbucks location in a Target, gave his community a glimpse of what it’s like to close his store. The employee’s 13-second video showed him putting tons of Starbucks pastries into a Target cart as he wrote, “POV: You’re closing at Starbucks.”

Aidan then began putting more items into the cart, including desserts and packaged treats. He also grabbed additional carts to fit the “trash” he was taking out. One abundant pastry was the chocolate croissant, a popular item to pair a hot or iced coffee with.

At the end of the TikTok, Aidan showed off the “final damage” of the inventory. The damage included three Target carts of Starbucks food that the employee said was “all trash.” He then turned the camera on himself as he reacted to all the items about to go to waste at his location’s request.

In the caption of his TikTok, Aidan said, “I WISH I was kidding,” about how wasteful Starbucks seemingly is with their pastries and other snacks.

While I’m glad Aidan showed what Starbucks does in their stores, I could’ve gone my whole life without knowing a place I’ve eaten from not only prepackages their food but also throws away copious amounts of products that could go anywhere else but the trash.

Several other TikTok users agreed that Starbucks’s wasteful approach wasn’t the way to go. Underneath Aidan’s video, he received many “nooo” reactions as they watched croissants and cake pops enter the “trash” pile.

He also received many comments suggesting Starbucks donate unused pastries and snacks rather than throw them away.

“@Starbucks really???? What is wrong with you!!!” one commenter yelled at the company.

“Nooo😭 why can’t they donate it?” another asked.

“Plzzzz, this should be illegal,” a third commenter protested.

Needless to say, many people were shocked.

Aidan, who has a little over 4,000 followers on TikTok, saw a significant rise in his page’s visibility after sharing his closing time at Starbucks. The video received over 4 million views and is the most popular TikTok on his account.

In addition to the extra attention he received from fellow TikTokers, the video also made it on Starbucks’s team’s radar.

In August 2023, the company released a statement to Distractify about the viral video. It explained their decision to throw the snacks away instead of donating them or giving them to other employees, as the commenters suggested.

“In this video, Starbucks can confirm that the food pictured was no longer deemed safe to transfer or donate per food donation standards and, per policy, was required to discard.”