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Starbucks-Ethiopia to Sign Licensing Agreement This Week


It’s been 12 days since Starbucks and Ethiopia issued a joint statement saying that they have agreed in principle to sign a licensing, distribution and marketing agreement that recognizes the importance and integrity of Ethiopia’s specialty coffee names.

After several months of uphill battle by development agencies, activists and supporters of Ethiopia's plan to trademark its marks, Starbucks has acknowledged a week ago Ethiopia’s ownership of its own coffee marks.

“Ethiopia is recognized as the historic birthplace of coffee and the source of some of the finest coffee in the world,” said Howard Schultz, Starbucks chairman, on the press release.

Negotiations have continued through last week between representatives of Ethiopia, currently in Washington D.C., and Starbucks officials. Details of the negotiations are not made public to date.

The parties are expected to meet here in Seattle this week, reportedly as early as Wednesday, May 16th, for a signing ceremony.

Starbucks has reasons to celebrate the end of the toughest ever public pressure on the company. For Ethiopia, this will mark the beginning of the long journey for its new trademark project.

For Timeline of the Starbucks-Ethiopia dispute, click here.

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