NEW YORK (AP) — Starbucks Corp. is gaining ground in its effort to end its distribution partnership with Kraft Foods Inc. as a U.S. Appeals Court upholds a lower court ruling against Kraft.
The food maker began distributing Starbucks coffee to groceries and other stores more than a decade ago.
After Starbucks announced in November that it planned to end the arrangement, Kraft tried to get a federal court to prevent Starbucks from abandoning the relationship. That request was denied in January.
On Friday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York upheld that ruling and said Kraft failed to show it faces irreparable harm if Starbucks breaks away before a separate arbitration process ends.
