(Bloomberg) -- Starbucks Corp. employees will no longer write “Race Together” on customers’ cups, ending the first stage of the company’s controversial effort to spur a discussion on U.S. race relations.

The coffee chain is now moving ahead with the next phase of the program, Chief Executive Officer Howard Schultz said in an open letter to workers on Sunday. That includes employee forums, dialogue with police and community leaders, and a commitment to expanding stores to urban communities, he said. The “Race Together” cup messages, which were criticized as ham-fisted on social media, ended on Sunday -- as was originally planned, Schultz said.

“While there has been criticism of the initiative -- and I know this hasn’t been easy for any of you -- let me assure you that we didn’t expect universal praise,” he said.

Starbucks announced the Race Together initiative March 16 to “stimulate conversation, compassion and action around race in America.” Racial tensions flared in rallies and riots last year after police killed two unarmed black men -- Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, and Eric Garner in New York -- with no charges brought against the officers.

The Seattle-based company’s leadership team visited almost 2,000 employees in St. Louis, Oakland, Los Angeles, Chicago and New York over the past three months to discuss racial issues.

After Starbucks asked baristas to write “Race Together” on customers’ cups, the initiative generated mockery and criticism on social media. The firestorm even prompted Corey duBrowa, a communications executive at the company, to delete his Twitter account. His account was back up by Sunday.

Starbucks has more than 20,000 locations worldwide and is planning to open a net of 300 stores in the U.S. in fiscal 2015, including some in urban neighborhoods. Starbucks doesn’t have a store in Ferguson, according to its website, which shows the closest is inside a Target store in neighboring Jennings, Missouri.

To contact the reporter on this story: Renee Dudley in Boston at rdudley6@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Nick Turner at nturner7@bloomberg.net Cecile Daurat