Poor Farmer

EDITORIAL The Daily Free Press March 27, 2007 Starbucks customers may want to rethink where their money is going the next time they order a grande roasted Shirkina Sun-Dried Sidamo coffee. Coffee farming is primarily a third-world industry that markets its product in first-world countries. Starbucks would be lost without the hard work of subsistence farmers in developing nations like Ethiopia. In March 2005, the Ethiopian growers tried to get into the capitalist game by applying for patents on beans produced from three separate regions: Harrar, Sidamo and Yirgacheffe. If Ethiopia receives these trademarks, the farmers -- who earn less than $2 per pound while Starbucks earns as much as $26 per pound it sells -- would see a little more money come their way. But Starbucks had already patented beans from Sidamo and refused to allow the Ethiopian requests to go through. The Seattle-based company suggested the farmers apply for a geographic certification. This type of protection, similar to ...

By Amitava Basu Financial Express March 25, 2007 IT is amazing the way wild berries in one corner of Africa grew to transform into a popular, international beverage. Coffee plants were first located growing wild in the highland forests of Kaffe in Ethiopia, from where it derived its name. No one knows when exactly coffee was discovered. However, there is evidence to suggest that sometime between 575 A.D. and 850 A.D., a nomadic mountain tribe called Galla used to ground coffee seeds and mix with animal fat and ate it. From its birthplace in Ethiopia, coffee berries were transported to the Arab world. From there, coffee travelled to Turkey. It was here that coffee beans were roasted for the first time over open fires. The roasted beans were crushed and then boiled in water, creating a crude version of the beverage enjoyed today. Later, the Venetian merchants brought coffee to Europe. It was only in the 18th century that coffee found its way to the Americas, when a French infantry captai...

Seeking Alpha Mar 26th, 2007 with stocks: SBUX Profit Margin Man submits: Starbucks' ( SBUX ) growth engine is the 'be all and end all'. The Founder has made a commitment to the market, so all staff is directed to pursue growth. While management says 'only good deals', folks get rewarded for deal numbers and there is no penalty for underperforming stores or bad growth forecasts. There is no penalty for underestimating how much a new unit might cannibalize another existing one; in fact, no one even tracks cannibalization in any serious manner. Why should they? Comparable store sales continue to increase, so how could there be a problem? Well, consider this: Suppose a given market area has 300 existing Starbucks and 30 new stores open during the year so, at year's end, the area has 330 stores. Those stores came on line over the 12 month period. The typical store 'ramps up', hitting on all cylinders 5 to 9 months after opening. Looking at comparable store...