{"id":47729,"date":"2026-04-16T17:28:57","date_gmt":"2026-04-17T00:28:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=47729"},"modified":"2026-04-16T17:28:58","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T00:28:58","slug":"philz-coffee-doubles-down-on-removing-pride-flags-despite-backlash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2026\/04\/16\/philz-coffee-doubles-down-on-removing-pride-flags-despite-backlash\/","title":{"rendered":"Philz Coffee doubles down on removing Pride flags despite backlash"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By\u00a0Tara Duggan<\/a>,Staff WriterUpdated\u00a0April 15, 2026 (SFChronicle.com)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gift Article<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Philz Coffee in San Francisco\u2019s Castro neighborhood has continued to display Pride flags despite its CEO reiterating the prohibition in a leaked memo.Giselle Garza Lerma\/S.F. Chronicle<\/em><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

After incurring backlash and national media coverage<\/a> over its decision to remove Pride flags from its caf\u00e9s<\/a>, San Francisco-born Philz Coffee doubled down on the policy and provided more details about it in a confidential memo sent to employees last Friday that was obtained by the Chronicle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The memo from CEO Mahesh Sadarangani was printed on company letterhead marked \u201cconfidential.\u201d It references Sadarangani\u2019s visits to stores in recent weeks to talk about \u201cchanges to our store decor & flags\u201d and reiterates that the new policy \u201cmay include removing a variety of flags and other decor.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sadarangani did not apologize for the flag policy in the memo, but expressed some regret for how it was communicated, writing, \u201cWe hear and deeply understand that we did not handle changes to store decor as well as we should have, especially as true allies to the community. Some of our team members have shared that those changes felt personal.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A manager at a San Francisco Philz location said the staff was \u201cblindsided\u201d by the decision and unaware of it until it was made public by the Chronicle. The employee asked to remain anonymous without authorization to speak publicly and feared repercussions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Philz did not immediately respond to questions about the timeline for removing flags or comments Sadarangani made in the memo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

The memo also describes the company\u2019s plans for a new \u201cunifying\u201d piece of artwork that would apparently be placed in every store. \u201cOver the last year, we have been working on custom Philz artwork to set the expectations for a safe and inclusive space for all, including our LGBTQIA+ community,\u201d it reads. \u201cWe want one piece of artwork that unifies all of Philz, that openly showcases our commitment to honoring the uniqueness and diversity of each person who enters our place.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Philz staff will be involved in the development of that artwork, according to the memo. \u201cYou will have the opportunity to participate in the selection process so that the piece is truly a collaboration of us as a collective whole.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sadarangani reiterates in the memo that the company is not \u201cmov(ing) away from supporting the LGBTQIA+ community,\u201d detailing a number of forthcoming initiatives. For Pride month, Philz will continue to donate to LGBTQ+ organizations and it will hold a \u201csecond annual\u201d company sticker contest to which employees can contribute artwork. Philz will also continue to have a committee for DEIB or diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging, \u201cincluding those in the LGBTQIA+ community,\u201d the memo reads. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pride flags remained in place in the Castro store and at least one other San Francisco location Wednesday. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

On April 8, Philz Coffee confirmed to the Chronicle that\u00a0it would remove Pride flags from all of its locations<\/a>\u00a0after\u00a0an online petition against the policy<\/a>\u00a0began circulating on social media. The backlash was swift, with people expressing outrage on social media, especially over a statement from Sadarangani saying that the company\u2019s \u201clongstanding support of the LGBTQIA+ community is unchanged.\u201d News outlets across the country covered the controversy, while Bay Area LGBTQ+ organizations issued statements condemning the decision and organized a small rally\u00a0in front of the Castro location<\/a>\u00a0last Friday.

\u201cThe rainbow flag is a symbol for the queer community, and this is the heart of the queer movement here in the Castro,\u201d Suzanne Ford, executive director of\u00a0San Francisco Pride<\/a>, told the Chronicle during the rally. \u201cWe can\u2019t just not say anything.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Organizers of the petition, a group calling itself Philz Coffee Baristas, did not respond to requests to comment. Close to 6,800 people have signed the petition so far. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Philz was founded in the Mission District in 2003 by Phil and Jacob Jaber, who stepped away after Sadarangani became CEO in 2021. Many critics of Philz\u2019s new policy tie it to the purchase of the company last year by private equity firm Freeman Spogli & Co.<\/a>, which also owns Popeyes Chicken and El Pollo Loco, for a reported $145 million, according to Mission Local<\/a>, though the company did not provide details of the deal. It now has more than 70 locations in California as well as in Chicago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNow we have this private equity firm coming into San Francisco and trying to say that our Philz Coffee locations can\u2019t have a Pride flag. That is really gross,\u201d state Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, said in a video statement.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

April 15, 2026|Updated April 15, 2026 4:42 p.m.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

Tara Duggan<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reporter<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tara Duggan is a reporter in the Chronicle\u2019s Food & Wine department, where she has been on the staff for over 20 years, and was also recently a reporter on Chronicle\u2019s climate and environment team. She wrote investigations into nonprofit organizations and businesses as well as the narrative story \u201cThe Fisherman\u2019s Secret,\u201d a finalist for an Online Journalism Award. She also won a James Beard Award for her food journalism and is the author of five cookbooks. Reach her at tduggan@sfchronicle.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By\u00a0Tara Duggan,Staff WriterUpdated\u00a0April 15, 2026 (SFChronicle.com) Gift Article Philz Coffee in San Francisco\u2019s Castro neighborhood has continued to display Pride flags despite its CEO reiterating the prohibition in a leaked memo.Giselle Garza Lerma\/S.F. Chronicle After incurring backlash and national media coverage over its decision to remove Pride flags from its caf\u00e9s, San Francisco-born… Continue reading → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47729"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47729"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47729\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":47731,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47729\/revisions\/47731"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47729"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47729"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47729"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}