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December 16: Starbucks Day of Action

Time line

  • 2004: Starbucks filed application to register “Shirkina Sun-Dried Sidamo” trademark. Ethiopia asked Starbucks to drop its application because the country is preparing to register the names Yirgacheffe, Sidamo and Harar; Starbucks refused to talk

  • 2005: NCA filed a letter of protest asking Ethiopia's application to register all the names be denied. Starbucks then drop its application for “Shirkina Sun-Dried Sidamo” but continued to ignore Ethiopia's call to discuss. Ethiopia's application for Yirgacheffe trademark has been granted; the contestants expressed their regrets for lack of preparations to block it. Ethiopia continued to seek Starbucks' voluntary agreement acknowledging the country's ownership of the names Sidamo and Harar

  • 2006 October: Oxfam and 85,000 Starbucks customers asked Starbucks to come to the table to discuss and sign a Licensing Agreement with Ethiopia acknowledging Ethiopia's ownership of the names Sidamo and Harar

  • 2006 November: Oxford Professor offered an independent view and analysis concluding that Starbucks should help Ethiopians to dig themselves out of poverty by allowing them to participate meaningfully in the value chain, not deny them the means to do so (read here)

Earlier this month, Starbucks CEO Jim Donald met Meles Zenawi to discuss Ethiopia’s ownership of its coffee names and the benefits that ownership could bring to the 15 million poor Ethiopians who depend on coffee for their livelihood. Unfortunately, Starbucks has yet to agree that Ethiopia should own its coffee names.

Join Oxfam and thousands of others around the globe as we amplify the voices of Ethiopian farmers together. Remember, Starbucks has a team of lawyers to protect its name; the Ethiopian coffee farmer has you.

Many Starbucks employees have asked to know more about the campaign. We need your help to let them know the facts. The best way to do this is to go into the store, ask for a cup of Ethiopian coffee, and hand the employee the fact sheet. It’s an easy way to educate Starbucks employees about the plight of Ethiopian coffee farmers.

Please download this fact sheet and give it to your local Starbucks employees on Saturday, December 16, 2006.

Contact:
If you are interested in participating in a conference call to learn more about how you can help, click here.

For more information, click here.

Need a moral boost?

Here is a word from Policy Innovations, a program of Carnegie Council: "If you consider yourself a good global citizen, Starbucks Coffee could be keeping you up at night—and it might not be the caffeine. " Read the full article Sleepless from Seattle.

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