Poor Farmer

Starbucks takes step towards recognizing Ethiopian rights to coffee names. Campaigners urge company to follow through. 21 February 2007 BOSTON — International agency Oxfam responded to a joint statement from coffee company Starbucks and the Government of Ethiopia in which Starbucks pledged not to oppose Ethiopian efforts to trademark its coffee names, Yirgacheffe, Sidamo and Harar. While it is a good first step, Oxfam said Starbucks needed to go further and guarantee concrete support for the Ethiopian project, designed to benefit poor producers. "It's good to see Starbucks finally coming to the table, which they initially refused to do," said Seth Petchers, coffee lead for Oxfam International's Make Trade Fair campaign. "Starbucks now says it won't block the initiative, but what it hasn't said is how it will actively support Ethiopia's stated efforts to obtain trademarks for its coffees which will bring added benefits to poor farmers." After init...

Last week’s 4th East Africa Fine Coffee Association (EAFCA) conference was the latest venue for the ongoing dispute between Ethiopia and Starbucks. Though not on the agenda, this was probably the most widely discussed issue by conference attendees in Addis Ababa. Starbucks continued to reject Ethiopia’s request to acknowledge its ownership of its coffee marks. At the same time, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters and several others announced that they accept Ethiopia’s position and are in the process of formalizing this acceptance. Starbucks senior officials led by two VPs, Dub Hay and Sandra Taylor, accompanied by Rosa Whitaker, founder of Rosa Whitaker Associates, a Washington-based lobbying group, maintained the company’s opposition to Ethiopia’s trademark efforts, meeting with senior Government officials and issuing press releases. Whitaker is a former senior US Government trade official under both Presidents Clinton and Bush who now uses her expertise on behalf of Starbucks and others....