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Putting Bucks In Starbucks



EDITORIAL
The Daily Free Press
March 27, 2007

Starbucks customers may want to rethink where their money is going the next time they order a grande roasted Shirkina Sun-Dried Sidamo coffee.

Coffee farming is primarily a third-world industry that markets its product in first-world countries. Starbucks would be lost without the hard work of subsistence farmers in developing nations like Ethiopia.

In March 2005, the Ethiopian growers tried to get into the capitalist game by applying for patents on beans produced from three separate regions: Harrar, Sidamo and Yirgacheffe. If Ethiopia receives these trademarks, the farmers -- who earn less than $2 per pound while Starbucks earns as much as $26 per pound it sells -- would see a little more money come their way.

But Starbucks had already patented beans from Sidamo and refused to allow the Ethiopian requests to go through. The Seattle-based company suggested the farmers apply for a geographic certification. This type of protection, similar to the one for Florida Oranges, would ensure the coffee is produced in Ethiopia while allowing other companies to market it. Essentially, Starbucks wants the right to sell the Ethiopian coffee under its own label.

While Starbucks leaders claim the business wants to help Ethiopian farmers, blocking Ethiopia's patents requests says otherwise. The company appears like a selfish child, not willing to share its wealth with the very people who make it possible.

Because coffee is such a big industry -- Starbucks amassed a $7.8 billion revenue last year, according to a Feb. 26 Fortune Magazine article -- the farmers who spend days producing a few pounds of beans deserve more compensation.

Starbucks officials are willing to work closely with developing nations and even meet with Ethiopia's prime minister so they can obtain the product. But when the impoverished countries attempt to make hard labor more profitable to the people in the fields, Starbucks seems too eager to stamp out their efforts.

And Starbucks is the role model for becoming a powerful moneymaker. The business began as a small coffee house in 1971 and now has 12,240 stores across the globe, according to the company's website. Recently, the company crossed industries when it signed Paul McCartney to a record deal March 21. Clearly, it isn't just about the coffee anymore.

But Starbucks is not just the evil corporate empire it appears to be. Depending on its position, Starbucks helps its employees save for retirement and offers health insurance, among other benefits. The company's website states it strives for diversity and prioritizes environmental issues.

The corporation has some aspects of a good reputation brewing. But if it continues to get richer while Ethiopian farmers remain poor, eventually there may be nothing left to brew at all.

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