Part of the House of Representatives is dismayed because coffee and tea makers Douwe Egberts and Pickwick are still active in Russia. “I think this is a good reason to review all government coffee contracts,” CDA MP Derk Boswijk emphasizes to the AD. He calls it “unprecedented” that the coffee giant is still active in Russia.
The Christian Democrat responds with his statements to an interview with the CEO of the parent company of coffee brand Douwe Egberts and Pickwick, JDE Peet’s. The group is not hesitating to withdraw from Russia, CEO Fabien Simon told The Wall Street Journal. He believes that tea and coffee are essential foodstuffs that Russians should also be able to buy, despite Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
D66, GroenLinks and CDA find his position incomprehensible. D66 member Alexander Hammelburg: “It is very painful that there are still Dutch companies that trade in a country that is using brute force to plunge Ukraine into the horrors of this war.”