By Wondwossen Mezlekia According to online sources, Starbucks’ growth strategy for 2007 is three-dimensional - store expansion, product development, and Socially & Environmentally Responsible (SER) coffee purchasing. Starbucks CEO Jim Donald reportedly stressed, during the fourth-quarter conference call, that purchasing socially and environmentally friendly coffee is as important an initiative as the other two. We will have to live and see whether Donald’s promises translate into practice but it is apparent, right from the onset, that the ongoing dispute between Starbucks and Ethiopian coffee farmers is a lead up to testing the strategy and Starbucks’ commitment to live up to its words. Though none of the strategies are new, in my view, Social & Environmental Responsibility (SER) continues to be the pillar and a challenge for Starbucks as long as coffee is the core of the business because of the importance of sustainability of supply. Market data indicate that Starbucks stands ...