Does Biggby support Israel? TikTok claims, BDS campaigns, and facts

Editorial Team
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Reports say that the American coffee company Biggby Coffee has not called out which side they supports in the current conflict between Israel and Palestine. While there are many online social media disagreements and assertions that people are saying on TikTok, there is no administrator or declaration from the company that states they support Israel or engage in any geopolitical aspect related to this conflict. Biggby Coffee is not addressing worldwide political matters in its open messages and organizational values, and focuses more on the community, great service, and coffee culture. 

Rather than a focus on political advocacy or endorsement, their brand materials targeted at the general populace are written in terms of attributes and values targeted at the customer experience. Rather than any formal corporate position, the Biggby Coffee relationship to the Israel-Palestine conflict seems to have been mostly due to user-created content and social media rumors. As an example, some TikTok videos claim that Biggby Coffee is supporting either Israel or Palestine, without either partner corroborating the claims or reputable news outlets proving the same.

Company history and overview

In 1995, Bob Fish and Mary Roszel founded Biggby Coffee in East Lansing, Michigan, as Beaner’s Coffee. The firm adopted a new name, Biggby Coffee, in 2007. It is a franchised and privately owned coffee outlet with strong ties to the communities where it operates. The company was started with the motive of loving people and sharing great coffee, with the intent to show a friendly, welcoming environment and culture of great coffee. Biggby does not hesitate to display three of its core values publicly: the build-up of a family-like franchise, customer experience, and involvement in the community. 

They highly regard establishing a hospitable environment in their businesses and instilling them with a sense of belonging in a larger family in regard to the franchisees. Some prominent global businesses and celebrities have taken a stand concerning the conflict between Israel and Palestine, unlike Biggby (Starbucks or companies situated in the Middle East, to name but a few). In particular, in conflict-related boycotting guidelines, some firms in the coffee industry have been targeted specifically, but Biggby happens to be one of the unmentioned organizations.

The Israel-Palestine conflict

The war was in full swing as Israel conducted extensive military offensives in Gaza, including airstrikes and ground operations elsewhere, such as Gaza City, Khan Yunis, and Rafah in 2024 and 2025, resulting in the death of many civilians, large-scale displacement, and damage to much of Gaza. After nearly 15 continuous months of warfare, Israel and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire in January 2025. This included prisoner releases and hostage exchanges. This partial peace was accompanied throughout the year by tension and sporadic violence.

Humanitarian conditions have remained catastrophic in Gaza as a great number of residential quarters, hospitals, and infrastructure have been devastated and left uninhabitable. The Israeli military limits on aid and evacuations reportedly exacerbated this suffering. The importance of a long-term peace deal was illustrated in mid-2025 when international actors, including the UN, took greater measures in support of a viable two-state solution. While war was supposedly at a breaking point, the UN Secretary-General called for renewed diplomatic action.

Social media rumors

The most popular societal social media gossips about Biggby Coffee, and its stance on or sympathies to Israel, are not supported with credible reporting and verification by the company itself, however. They mostly appear on TikTok. Based on various TikTok videos, it is evident that Biggby is pro-Israel; the posts have had several million views with hashtags such as Biggby Supports Israel. However, these claims have not been backed by any official Biggby source or statement.

Rather than being founded on the right information, this widely spread social media content appears to be driven by speculations, rumors, and audience-generated remarks. The social media boycott or boycott calls are part of wider digital trends where companies are, at times, hasty or mistaken to be involved in political contestation that falls beyond their degree, like the conflict in Israel and Palestine.

Importantly:

  • There is no trustworthy data that Biggby Coffee has publicly taken a stand overtly or announced any financial or political interests in Israel and Palestine.
  • Boycott guidelines of the Biggby corporation, produced and championed by the official Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movements, do not feature Biggby among the corporations and institutions on which the boycotts are aimed.
  • Rather than being a reflection of proven corporate activities, social media posts, especially TikTok, may be a personal view or misleading information that is being spread by viral tendencies.

There are varying business responses to geopolitical challenges, such as the Israel-Palestine conflict, and there are businesses, for example, in coffee, that have consumer interactions. Trying to navigate these sensitive concerns while ensuring there is a balance between public sentiment, government actions, and corporate goals involves significant risks and challenges to businesses.

Two well-known cases of companies in the coffee industry where boycotts have been attempted are Starbucks and McDonald’s due to either their alleged backing of Israel through merchandise or being affiliated with this country. Such enterprises have been categorical that they will not tolerate the military activities of Israel. To illustrate, despite rumors and untrue reports on social media running contrary to this, Starbucks has taken to clarify that it neither utilizes its profit to fund any military or government activities. Nevertheless, their publicity and sales have been adversely affected by accusations and boycotts, which are led by those people who uphold the Palestinian cause.

Nonetheless, many businesspeople prefer keeping politics out of their business, as there are issues with some of their customers, and if they do not, they may lose some of the customers, and the business may experience a controversial environment. The more neutral the position, the less likely that a negative reception will take place; however, it does not entirely protect a business in case of rumors and boycott efforts on the part of activists or customers who interpret silence as a sign of implicit consent.

End up

Deliberately staying apolitical, or rather neutral, and avoiding engagement in controversial issues or geopolitics, the corporate name and communications of Biggby focus on community-related values, a culture of delicious coffee, and facilitating its chain of franchisees. Other large coffee brands such as Starbucks and McDonald’s have suffered customer boycotts and sales impacts due to their perceived or reported views on Israel and since these processes have been shown to impact reputation and operations negatively, this move of Biggby is likely to serve to reduce such reputational and business risks that are often tied to political statements made in public. 

Instead of being an official corporate comment, the accusations against Biggby on social media, accusing the company of being pro-Israeli, seem to be made as a result of rumors, speculations, and uncensored user-generated content. Also, boycott lists and campaigns focusing on going after businesses due to being associated with Israel do not apply to Biggby.

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Brussels Morning is a daily online newspaper based in Belgium. BM publishes unique and independent coverage on international and European affairs. With a Europe-wide perspective, BM covers policies and politics of the EU, significant Member State developments, and looks at the international agenda with a European perspective.
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