One Dollar a Day Vs. Four Dollar Lattes

Aaron Glantz of OneWorld US, a non profit global network for information on international issues, exemplified the dispute over Ethiopia’s application to trademark its best-known coffees as being over the disparity between an average income per day in Ethiopia and the cost of a Latte in the rest of the world.

“Human rights groups accuse Starbucks of trying to stop Ethiopia from trademarking its best-known coffee beans Sidamo and Harar, thereby denying farmers potential income of more than $90 million a year,” said One World US whereas “Fair trade advocates look at the dispute as a clash between David and Goliath. In Starbucks, they see a $6.4 billion giant with more than 10,000 stores in 37 countries; in Ethiopia, they see the impoverished, hillside farmers of Ethiopia's premium coffee-growing regions.”

According to the online network, Starbucks refused to be interviewed for the story. The company preferred to issue an electronic statement. The documentary movie, Black Gold also accused Starbucks of refusing to be interviewed for the film.

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