The pumps and containers should be switched out and washed each time. People may be skipping it because it's busy or they just don't want the extra effort

The actual standard for the plastic pumps is to transfer them from bottle to bottle (always the same syrup) until they are clogged or no longer pumping the correct amount. At which point you throw them out and get a new pump. Plastic pumps are NEVER supposed to get washed, or even get wet. High temperature from dishwater and Hobart causes them to get uncalibrated, affects the flavor of the syrup, and you risk mold growing in the pumps if they’re left sitting in the back with water and residual sugar inside of them.

If you put a pump in vanilla, the pump should only ever be used for vanilla, same for all pumps/syrups. The plastic absorbs the flavor/scent, and switching it to a different syrup makes it taste like the last syrup. The pumps also, just like the syrup, absorb the “flavor” and scent of the soap and sanitizer. Which changes the way the syrups will taste.

You can go into the partner hub and look up the beverage resource manual and search for the section on plastic pumps. It lists all these points, just not in so many words.

Shift here.

Per health code, you should always be grabbing a clean container, not refilling a dirty one. Metal pumps should be cleaned before being put into a new container to avoid any potential cross contamination. Even if two containers have the same date, it's technically a no-no to combine them in case one has been contaminated or misdated.

Plastic pumps are the weird exception. Starbucks standard is to reuse until they're no longer functioning properly, then throw out and replace with a new one (although at my store we rinse syrup bottles in hot water at the end of the night to dissolve built up sugar and prolong their lifespan).

All that said, when you're drowning, people are going to cut corners, hence some of the inconsistencies you've seen lmao.

As for the refilling of things, if it’s busy and there aren’t any backups, it’s easier to just refill the containers than it is to go and grab all the different dishes you need in order to make new ones. Also if it’s a product you use a lot of, and you know you’re going to use it all before the date that’s already on it.. go ahead and refill. Careful though, some shifts and SMs are strictly against refilling. So just know who you’re working with lol

Shift from the Wild West here.

Our chai and white mocha containers are switched when we do the middle. The pump gets disassembled and cleaned in the back and the new container dated for 24 hours and two weeks respectively. We refill them when they run low/out only once daily get a new container.

At one point we were dating our syrup pumps for 30 days. One strict shift from when I was a barista said this was how it’s supposed to be. Ever since she left we’ve been doing the classic ‘go until they get weird’ method.