Poor Farmer

"Some experts see the craze of following a product from “farm to fork” as a potential hindrance to free global trade, that could hurt developing countries." - Business Daily Africa The concept of traceability is intertwined in the Starbucks-Ethiopia coffee trademark agreement as well. Stay tuned for an assessment of the trademark dispute resolution and the threats “traceability” might pose to the success of the trademark project. ------------------------ West's Obsession With Origin Hurts Local Growers by Ole Turana Business Daily Africa, Kenya June 27, 2007 Kenya’s agricultural produce industry is losing millions of shillings in export earnings because overseas buyers are not paying premium prices. Kenyan exports, especially tea, coffee and horticultural products are under scrutiny as customers in the West query origin of produce. The issue of traceability has become a major factor in deciding prices paid for agricultural exports to the West, says Francis Stevens George,...

Coffee Politics Stands Down Surprise! Oxfam announced today that Starbucks and Ethiopia signed an agreement and that it ended the campaign against Starbucks. The organization’s press release reads: "Starbucks and Ethiopia signed a distribution, marketing and licensing agreement today that ends their trademark dispute and brings them together in partnership to help Ethiopian coffee farmers. International relief and development agency Oxfam welcomes the agreement that has the potential to give farmers a fairer share of the profits for their world-renowned coffee brands, Sidamo, Harar and Yirgacheffe." I re-read the press releases issued by the parties involved including LYIP, Starbucks, Ethiopia, and Oxfam, but the vernacular is going over my head. For instance, what does “recognition of designations” and that the recognition includes “the license of certain trademarks” mean? All in all, I think the following two paragraphs hold the key to the agreement: “It provides a framewor...

The events scheduled for June 20, 2007 at the Ethiopian Embassy in Washington, DC and at the Ambassador’s residence are postponed. An electronic communication issued today by The Whitaker Group, a consultant to the Starbucks Coffee Company reads: “This is to inform you that the press event at the Ethiopian Embassy as well as the reception at the Ambassador’s residence, which were scheduled for this Wednesday, 20th June 2007, are postponed until later this summer due to scheduling difficulties.” On June 18, 2007, the Embassy invited unidentified number of people to attend a press event at the Embassy and a reception ceremony to celebrate what they called, “the ongoing collaboration between the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and the company in support of the Ethiopian coffee industry.” The long awaited licensing agreement deal is not mentioned in any of the announcements or invitations received by Coffee Politics. The postponement of the Embassy event and reception until an uns...

Senior representatives from Starbucks Corporation and the Ambassador of the government of Ethiopia to the US plan to announce on Wednesday June 20, 2007 what they called “the ongoing collaboration between the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and the company in support of the Ethiopian coffee industry” According to the Ambassador’s personal invitations sent to unidentified number of recipients, the announcement will be followed by a reception at the Ambassador’s residence in Washington, DC on the same day. The Reception Invitation reads: “His Excellency Dr. Samuel Assefa, Ambassador of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia to the United States, cordially invites you to join him along with senior representatives from Starbucks Coffee Company at a reception celebrating the spirit of partnership between the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and the company in support of the Ethiopian coffee industry.” The invitations, copies of which have been received by Coffee Politics...

"They [the coffee farmers] were told that the price of coffee had dropped, even when it hadn't. The daily closing price of coffee was broadcast on national radio, but only 2 percent of 700,000 farmers had access to one. "Kettler hit upon the idea of bringing wind-up radios to farmers as a way to alleviate isolation of coffee co-ops, which often are made up of hundreds or thousands of farmers." I think this idea of providing Ethiopian coffee farmers with access to the radio waves should be a part of the implementation of the coffee trademark project. Unless the farmers are able to follow the price movement in the coffee market, they will continue to live at the mercy of the middlemen and exporters. Mr. Kettler's efforts need to be supported. What do you think? Send your ideas to me at poorfarmer@gmail.com ------------------ Aiding Growers: One Madison man sets out to link African coffee growers to the consumers DEBORAH ZIFF 608-252-6120 dziff@madison.com Madis...

Business Report June 12, 2007 London - Coffee prices hit the highest level for nine years here on Tuesday, lifted by concerns over insufficient supplies from Vietnam. On the LIFFE, London's futures exchange, Robusta prices leapt to $1 918 per tonne - a pinnacle not reached since 1998. The price of Robusta coffee has surged by almost 70 percent since the same stage last year, when it was worth just over $1 100. Prices have almost tripled in value since November 2004. Coffee prices in London have rocketed as investors fret over lower exports from Vietnam, which is the world's second biggest coffee producer. "Essentially Vietnam is the worry," said Denis Seudieu, chief economist at the London-based International Coffee Organisation (ICO). "Not only are supplies there struggling to keep up, but the coffee is of a poor quality and many batches have recently been rejected at European ports." The concerns have also buoyed the price of Arabica beans which are mainl...

After about eight months of blogging, postings 200 articles (about a quarter of which are either authored or commented by me), and reading thousands of WebPages, I decided to take on a more challenging role in the coffee industry. Since news about the dispute between Ethiopia and Starbucks over the coffee trademarks broke out, I have spent several long nights reading about almost anything regarding the coffee industry (and intellectual property, and learned a great deal about both fields.) As I researched the root causes, and the subsequent handling, by both parties, of the trademark dispute, nothing surprised me most than the information gap that exists in the multi-billion dollar industry. Information exchange is so deficient in the coffee industry that most people at one end of the food chain do not have a clue about what is going on at the other end of the spectrum. Of course, there is no scarcity of information about coffee and related businesses on the internet. In fact, the info...

By Ron Day Bloomberg June 8, 2007 Coffee fell in New York after Brazil and Colombia sold beans to take advantage of a three-week rally. Futures had jumped 15 percent since May 1 to a three-month high on June 4. Brazil, the world's biggest coffee grower, and Colombia, the third-largest, are locking in prices after some sales by speculators, said George Saffadi, a trader with Olam Americas Inc. in White Plains, New York. ``Brazil and Colombia are coming to market,'' Saffadi said. ``They have coffee to sell and they are hedging.'' Coffee for July delivery fell 2 cents, or 1.7 percent, to $1.1495 a pound on the New York Board of Trade at 12:24 p.m. Colombia, which is harvesting its smaller mid-crop, is boosting production to meet increased demand from former Soviet Union countries as Brazil's output declines. Brazil's production dropped in the current season after trees entered the slower half of a two-year cycle and dry weather hindered flowering. Vietnam is t...

Bloomberg News via AZ Central Jun. 8, 2007 Starbucks Corp., the world's largest chain of coffee shops, may see sales slow as people increasingly turn to McDonald's Corp. for their daily brew, a Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. analyst said. Marc Greenberg, who is based in New York, cut his target price for Starbucks shares by 14 percent to $32 from $37. He said McDonald's switch to a new coffee blend last year has improved its reputation among consumers. "The coffee house is facing a new world order," Greenberg wrote in a note late yesterday. McDonald's is "the very last company we would choose as competition" for Starbucks. McDonald's, which reported monthly sales today that rose the most in three years, is selling iced coffee and other specialty brews at some U.S. stores. In February, Consumer Reports magazine ranked McDonald's coffee ahead of Starbucks, saying it tastes better and costs less. McDonald's coffee has "surprisingly high...

Stock Spotlight: Shares of the coffee chain have been ice cold lately, but they could start to percolate again soon. By David Ellis, CNNMoney.com staff writer June 8 2007: 10:20 AM EDT NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Forget the foam and make that latte skim, and sugar-free. Right now, Starbucks stock is really out of shape. Over the past year, shares of the Seattle-based coffee chain have been one of the worst performers in the S&P 500, tumbling about 20 percent. And after years of rapid expansion, Starbucks still has aggressive store openings planned - and it's expanded its offerings beyond macchiatos and chai tea to breakfast sandwiches, books and music. Just this week, Starbucks released ex-Beatle Paul McCartney's newest album, making him the first artist released on the company's new Hear Music record label. But with the company facing higher commodity prices and growing competition, is Starbucks stock even worth a sip? As of last month, Starbucks had about 9,800 stores ...

According to the countdown counter at the bottom-left of this page, it has been 35 days since Starbucks and the government of Ethiopia announced their agreement “in principle” and promised to sign the licensing agreement by the end of May, 2007. Though neither side is willing to discuss the details of their negotiations, the lawyers representing the parties have been working on the licensing agreement for sometime now. The public is left to suspense as the parties continue to come close to a moving deadline. With a prolonged resolution date the public’s curiosity to learn about the details of the licensing agreement is growing. I have attempted to get first hand information from second level parties, Light Years IP and Oxfam, but they have not responded to my repeated enquiries. Once again, there are signs that lead me to believe that the parties are gearing up to announce the outcome of their negotiation as early as this week. If that happens, expect a flood of breaking news articles ...

"Like virtually all Ethiopia coffees, this striking and unusual coffee is produced by villagers on small, garden plots interplanted with food and other subsistence crops.” - The respected industry Author Kenneth Davids’ website, CoffeeReview.com ------------- Press Release Minneapolis, MN Paradise Roasters June 06, 2007 Paradise Roasters, one of the most highly rated and awarded micro-roasters of coffee in America, has just garnered the highest rating ever achieved for a coffee rated by Kenneth Davids. In judging Paradise Roasters’ release of Ethiopian Biloya Special, Mr. Davids assigned it a rating of 97 points, his highest rating to date. Kenneth Davids, coffee expert, author, and co-founder of The Coffee Review, began his involvement with coffee in the early 1970s, when he opened a coffee business in Berkeley, California. Since then he published three books on coffee and has rated and reviewed thousands of different coffees. This is from Mr. Davids’ review of Paradise Roaster ...

The franchise that popularised a coffee culture in the US, is now being accused of bastardising an age old tradition. Chris Buchanan Money Web June 06, 2007 Premium coffee culture, that of the espresso, cappuccino, latté, macchiato and ristretto evolved in Europe through the invention of the piston driven espresso machine by Achille Gaggia in 1948. Until then coffee was savoured as a percolated or filtered brew in Europe and the US, and a boiled brew in the Arabic world where it is said to have been popularised in the 10th century. In 1971 Starbucks opened it first coffee house in Seattle, but it wasn't until Howard Shultz joined the company in 1981 that the right formula was achieved after intense scrutiny of the European espresso bar culture. What followed was a cult-like coffee explosion in the states. In 1990 the US overtook Germany as the biggest single importer of coffee and today imports double that of second place Germany. At fiscal year end 2006 Starbucks had 12440 stores ...

The following news article reports, “Ethiopia has just resolved a dispute with the US-based Starbucks coffee chain over trademarks after the two sides agreed in principle to sign a licensing and marketing deal which recognises the country’s ownership of its premium varieties of coffee beans.” It should be noted, however, that the two sides have not signed the agreement to date. According to the recent joint statement issued on May 3, 2007 by the Ethiopian government and Starbucks, they were supposed to sign the licensing agreement before the end of May, 2007. It is understandable that negotiations of any sort sometimes take longer time than estimated, but whenever that happens, it is important that the parties acknowledge the delay and provide explanations for missed deadlines. As a good service to the public, I think the government and Starbucks officials should issue an official notice with a renewed target date for the expected resolution of their differences. On the other hand, it ...

By Carlos Caminada Bloomberg June 1, 2007 Brazil, the world's biggest coffee producer, will give arabica growers a subsidy of as much as 40 reais ($21) a bag after a rally in the local currency eroded export profits. The government will guarantee that growers receive 300 reais per 60-kilogram bag of arabica coffee, the Agriculture Ministry said in a statement. Brazil will hold auctions twice a month between growers and buyers and plans to subsidize as many as 5 million bags through the end of the harvest in October. Brazil's offer to support prices, its first since 2002, comes one day after Colombia, the world's second-biggest arabica producer, said it would aid farmers to counter a currency rally. Colombia's peso and Brazil's real are the world's best- performing currencies against the dollar in the past six months. ``Producer profits are really narrow because of the exchange rate,'' said Joao Antonio Lian, head of Sumatra Cafes Brasil, Brazil's thi...