Poor Farmer

Exclusive interview with Coffee Politics (CP) (in Seattle): Samuel Assefa, Ethiopia’s Ambassador to the US (in Washington, DC) and Getachew Mengistie, Director of Ethiopian Intellectual Property Office (in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.) The news regarding the settlement of the dispute between Starbucks and Ethiopia over that country’s famous coffee marks received mixed responses. While the majority of people felt that was a relief, some people, especially those who have been closely following the story were skeptical. The skepticism emanated mainly from the unnecessary level of secrecy the negotiating parties hurdled themselves with. To add to the confusion, the joint press release issued on June 20, 2007 was as vague as it could be. The release which was supposed to announce the end of the dispute read: “Representatives of the Government of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and senior leaders from Starbucks Coffee Company today announced that they have concluded an agreement regar...

Ethiopia's government representatives who have been negotiating with Starbucks speak for the first time in an exclusive interview with Coffee Politics about the licensing agreement they said have signed on behalf of Ethiopia. What is in the agreement and, most importantly, what's the secrecy all about? Script of the interview will be published on Monday, July 30, 2007. Stay tuned.

Since the trademark dispute between Starbucks and Ethiopia was officially declared to be over on June 20, 2007, there has been a growing skepticism about the very settlement of the matter. Neither side of the parties is willing to disclose the details of the agreement they say have signed. For the past thirty days, I have been trying to get first hand information from the parties to no tangible success. Starbucks would not respond to my repeated calls. From the government’s side, I was privileged to speak with Samuel Assefa, Ethiopia’s Ambassador to Washington and Getachew Mengistie, Director of Ethiopia’s Intellectual Property Office on general matters but, to this date, I have not gotten the answers to the questions I have gathered from readers of this blog. In the coming days, I will publish the questions, hopefully with (if not, without) the government’s response. In the mean time, the saga continues as Addis Fortune entertains the exchange of letters between the government’s repre...

Companies are using the label when their blends are 10 percent Associated Press July 22, 2007 There's a debate brewing about how much Kona coffee should be required to qualify as a "Kona blend" product. Many smaller independent coffee farmers see the valuable Kona brand being diluted by large coffee companies, a situation exacerbated by a state law allowing blends with just 10 percent Kona coffee to advertise as "Kona blend." Many growers say that 10 percent is such a small proportion that the Kona coffee can't even be tasted. The 10 percent Kona blended products often sell for a quarter of the price of pure Kona coffee. Some have pushed for a 75-percent blend. But opposition from the big coffee blenders stopped legislation this past session that would have increased the Kona coffee in blends. Lawmakers called for a study to see how best to market the pricey Kona brand. Kona Joe Coffee owner Deepa Alban said the blend battle illustrates how coffee makers sho...

In response to The Starbucks Affair Addis Fortune July 16, 2007 Binding the Terms of the Starbucks Agreement Dear Editor, Mr. Shlomo Bachrach’s commentary last week headlined, “The Starbucks Affair” [Volume 8, Number 375, July 8, 2007] contained numerous inaccuracies, some of which warrant comment. Mr. Bachrach, whose consultancy with Light Years IP ended in February 2007, has no firsthand knowledge of the negotiations that paved the way for the agreement reached between Ethiopia and Starbucks. His speculative remarks about this process and its upshot were wildly off the mark. What is more, his tendentious narrations and gratuitous scepticism raise serious issues of professional ethics. Mr. Bachrach went so far as to cast doubt on the very existence of a binding contract between Starbucks and Ethiopia: “The announcement raises some questions. It does not say, for example, that an agreement was signed; only that it was ‘concluded.’ ” What motivates this line of interrogation is altogeth...

By Wondwossen Mezlekia The dispute between Ethiopia and Starbucks over that country's coffee trademark project has reportedly ended with resolution. But the response by this blog’s readers seems to be more of a mixture of skepticism and neutrality according to verbal and written feedbacks received by Coffee Politics. After about two years of engagement and about eight months of public campaign, which was lead by Oxfam, against Starbucks' refusal to recognize Ethiopia's ownership of the coffee marks, Harar, Sidamo, and Yirgacheffe, Starbucks and the government of Ethiopia issued a joint press release on June 20, 2007 declaring their agreement. The media picked the news from the multiple press releases issued by the parties all reported that the long-running dispute has been settled for good. However, many readers of Coffee Politics have been wary owing to the vagueness of words in the press releases. Many complained that the way the parties handled the negotiations and the s...

"In June, Ethiopia and Starbucks made a joint statement announcing their agreement concerning their long held dispute over ownership of coffee trademarks. How did this controversy arise, to start with? Is it really over? What can Ethiopia expect now? Despite the recent joint statement, some questions remain unanswered, argues SHLOMO BACHRACH, a United States (US)-based independent consultant who visits Ethiopia regularly. Mr. Bachrach, who was also a consultant for three years to the project that was meant to help Ethiopia gain its right over coffee trademarks, has a stunning revelation on the dispute." - Addis Fortune ----------------- The Starbucks Affair Shlomo Bachrach Addis Fortune July 09, 2007 During the past year, Ethiopia and Starbucks have been engaged in a controversial dispute. A successful public campaign against the global coffee giant highlighted Ethiopia's efforts to emerge from poverty while Starbucks enjoys huge profits from Ethiopia's coffees. Th...

By Wondwossen Mezlekia for The Ethiopian American * July 01, 2007 It was about a millennium ago that the legendary goat herder Kaldi discovered coffee in Kaffa, Ethiopia, according to substantiated folklore. Since then, the bean has traversed continents, transforming societies, religions, and economies while Ethiopia, the birthplace, watches. Today, coffee is the second most traded commodity on the international market next to oil, but unlike oil, coffee has not brought wealth to its country of origin. The aggressive tendency of globalization to deprive its weaker members from claiming their rightful share of the value chain has started to alarm global citizens. Ethiopia, too, has finally woken up just in time for its new millennium (Julian calendar), and is now sorting out intellectual property (IP) laws, which experts believe are promising tools to help the country catch up with the rest of the corporate world. The efforts to utilize IP tools for digging the country out of poverty, h...