Poor Farmer

Ethiopian Fine Coffee Farmers Cooperative Unions and Exporters Call on Starbucks to Move Forward on Trademark Issue Press Release 3.14.2007 - 09:40am ET Light Years IP (CSRwire) Addis Ababa, Ethiopia – March 14, 2007 - Ethiopian Fine Coffee Farmers Cooperative Unions and Exporters expressed their disappointment over the delays that Starbucks has caused in negotiations with Ethiopia and taking deliberate actions to divert attention from the trademark issue. Ethiopia’s fine coffee names trademark initiative has received international recognition as an innovative approach to bring added benefits to millions of poor farmers and help alleviate poverty. "When Starbucks announced that it will not block Ethiopia’s initiative and also increase its volume of purchase of Ethiopian coffee, we all welcomed it believing that it is a good first step and would open the door for negotiations with the company," said Hailu Gebre Hiwot, Chairman of The Ethiopian Coffee Exporters Association. ...

Is This The PR Campaign Sequel? Starbucks has been opposing to Ethiopia’s plan to trademark its famous coffee names but always denied its doing so. They worked through the lobbying group, the National Coffee Association ( NCA ) who filled its opposition to Ethiopia’s trademark applications at USPTO in 2006. After the dispute was made public late last year, Starbucks' strategy has been to attempt to take the public attention away from the fundamental issue. The company issued numerous press releases with misleading information. Dub Hay, Starbucks senior VP, even said in the infamous YouTube video that Ethiopia’s attempt to trademark the coffee names was illegal. Starbucks is feeling the heat because consumers, angered by its actions against the poor farmers, are demanding that the company change its course and do the right thing to support the country dig itself out of poverty. The company continues to change tactics and not its positions. In February 2007, through an orchestrated...