Bon Appétit Management Co. will ditch plastic straws and stirrers from about 1,000 locations.
The Palo Alto, Calif.-based food service management company said the move will be completed by September 2019.
Bon Appétit CEO and cofounder Fedele Bauccio came out strongly against plastic straws in the company's announcement.
"When I heard the stats and learned how much damage is being done by straws — a product of convenience — my gut reaction was we have to change this," he said in a statement.
The debate about plastic straws, which is growing day by day, is part of a larger conversation about single use plastics. This is fueled, in part, by a growing awareness of plastic pollution in oceans.
The University of Portland, a client of Bon Appétit, banned plastic straws last month, the company said. The school is also Bauccio's alma mater, and spurred the company to expand the idea.
Bon Appétit purchased about 16.8 million plastic straws and 420,000 plastic stirrers in fiscal year 2017, the company said.
While the company is urging people to no longer use straws, paper straws will be available for those who need or want them.
Bon Appétit is a restaurant management company that serves corporations, universities, museums, professional sports stadiums and other venues, the company said.