Poor Farmer

Note :   The most recent developments on Starbucks vs. Ethiopia are listed below: January 9, 2012:  Has trademarking doubled Ethiopian farmers' income?   January 5, 2012:   Starbucks to showcase use of a QR code to trace Organic Ethiopia Sidamo® Coffee   ========= "When two elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers. When the same two elephants make love, the grass still suffers." - derivative of an old African saying Life, before and after the agreement, remains unaffected for farmer Gemede Robe, the icon of the Starbucks vs. Ethiopia dispute. He lives in the Borena zone of the Oromia region, one of the many coffee growing zones of the country. (Photo: Courtesy of Oxfam America) By Wondwossen Mezlekia May 31, 2010 The coffee trademark dispute between Starbucks and Ethiopia officially ended exactly three years ago. In June 2007, the giant coffee chain and the government of Ethiopia declared their agreement "to work together to license...

Rising temperatures put 30 pct of coffee land at risk Scientists trying to help farmers adapt By Sarah Grainger Reuters May 19, 2010 SAN LUCAS TOLIMAN, Guatemala - Mexico and Central America could lose around a third of land suitable to grow coffee as global warming hurts conditions for the best quality beans, a study of regional farms shows. Specialty arabica coffee, the pride of countries like Guatemala, grows inside a very narrow band of altitude and temperature making it particularly sensitive to small changes in the climate. At the current rate temperatures are rising, there could be at least a 30 percent net loss in land suitable to farm coffee in Mexico and Central America by 2050 forcing many farmers to turn to different crops, said Peter Laderach, a lead researcher at the International Center for Tropical Agriculture. Laderach, whose organization is based in Colombia, is leading a team of scientists who started studying 7,000 small farms in Guatemala, Mexico, El ...

By Elizabeth Campbell Bloomberg May 19, 2010 Cocoa fell for the first time this week on signs that Europe’s debt crisis may spread and reduce investor demand for commodities. Coffee also dropped. Commodity prices declined to a 10-month low after Germany’s ban on some speculative financial sales raised concerns that debts in Europe will brake economic growth and lower demand for raw materials. The Standard & Poor’s GSCI Index of 24 items fell for the fifth straight session and earlier reached the lowest level since July 17. “Basically, outside elements are putting pressure across the board on all commodities,” said Phil Streible, a senior market strategist at Lind-Waldock, a broker in Chicago. “It just seems like risk is being taken off the table.” Cocoa for July delivery fell $12, or 0.4 percent, to $2,837 a metric ton at 11:47 a.m. on ICE Futures U.S. in New York. Before today, the chocolate ingredient declined 13 percent this year. Cocoa hasn’t fallen further “beca...

Press Release May 17, 2010 LONG BEACH, Calif. U.S.A. --- The Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA) announced the results of its recent general election. The following individuals have been elected to serve a term as a Director at large: Willem Boot, Marty Curtis, Al Liu, Paul Thornton and Max Quirin, who was elected to the position of 2nd Vice President. The nominating committee of the SCAA Board of Directors put together their recommendations last December and the slate was accepted by the full Board in January and notification was sent to membership in March. Association by-laws require participation by at least 5% of the eligible voting membership and the vote count was officially tallied, confirming these results. Executive Director of SCAA, Ric Rhinehart, commented on the results, “A great amount of due diligence goes into selecting candidates that will represent the membership well and support the Association’s strategic goals. This is an important process and the ...

By Elizabeth Campbell Bloomberg May 17, 2010 Coffee fell to the lowest level in more than a week as the dollar climbed, reducing the appeal of some commodities as an alternative investment. Cocoa was little changed after slumping to a two-month low. The greenback rose to the highest level since March 2009 against a basket of six major currencies, and the Reuters/Jefferies CRB Index of 19 commodities fell to the lowest level since October amid concern that Europe’s sovereign-debt crisis would spread. “A lot of people have been moving to the sidelines in commodity markets in general,” said Tom Mikulski, a senior market strategist at Lind-Waldock, a broker in Chicago. “The bigger traders have held, but they haven’t been buying. A lot of speculators remain in long-liquidation mode because there’s been too much uncertainty in Europe.” Arabica-coffee futures for July delivery slipped 1.75 cents, or 1.3 percent, to $1.3255 a pound on ICE Futures U.S. in New York. Earlier, the com...

By Helen Sun The Wall Street Journal MAY 17, 2010 Indonesia is likely to produce 5%-10% less coffee in 2010 as excessive rainfall at the beginning of the year affected the crop, officials at the Association of Indonesia Coffee Exporters said Monday. The lower output, coupled with steady growth in domestic consumption, is likely to cut exports from Asia's second-largest robusta coffee producer. Output may fall to around 400,000-450,000 metric tons this year compared with normal production of 500,000 tons a year. "The heavy rains at the end of last year and the beginning of this year were not good for flowering; it affected the productivity," said Rachim Kartabrata, the association's executive secretary. "The (robusta) bean quality was also affected," association chairman Hassan Widjaja said. Indonesia began harvesting its main coffee crop harvest in April and is expected to finish a month from now. The officials said the forecasts were based ...

By Debarati Roy Bloomberg May 13, 2010 Coffee rose for the fifth-straight session on concern that global supplies may lag behind demand. Cocoa dropped for the second time in three days. World coffee output probably will decline 4.8 percent to 122 million bags in the year that began on Oct. 1, the International Coffee Organization said in a report on May 11. Prices have climbed 2.7 percent in the previous four sessions. “The short-term supply concern is pushing prices higher,” said Rodrigo Costa, a vice president of institutional sales at Newedge USA LLC in New York. “The dollar’s strength, however, will limit the gains.” Arabica coffee for July delivery rose 0.7 cent, or 0.5 percent, to $1.3755 a pound at 9:53 a.m. on ICE Futures U.S. in New York. Before today, the commodity gained 6.3 percent in the past year. The euro traded near its lowest level since March 2009 on concern that governments may not cut deficits fast enough after the European Union announced an almost $...

While Starbucks leads in global coffee distribution and sales, advocacy groups are pushing the corporation to increase their fair trade practices. (Photo credit; Creative Commons via MediaGlobal) By Rachel Pollock MediaGlobal May 12, 2010 Large coffee distributors and coffeehouse chains are feeling tremendous pressure from the public to adhere to fair trade policies. Although it is difficult to measure corporate social responsibility in terms of percentage of fair trade products in relation to total distribution, there are coffee chains that are being scrutinized and coffee distributors that are being honored for their policies. On 26 April McDonald’s honored Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (GMCR) as the Global Best of Sustainable Supply in 2010. According to the press release, GMCR was chosen from hundreds of submissions from around the world and the award aimed at recognizing companies with the best business practices in sustainable supply. Luciana Bonifacio-Sette, associate dir...

By Yi Tian Bloomberg May 12, 2010 Coffee rose in New York to the highest price in more than a week on speculation that output in Brazil, the world’s largest producer, may fall short of forecasts. Cocoa also gained. Growers in Brazil will harvest 47 million bags of coffee beans this year, the Agriculture Ministry’s crop-forecasting agency said last week. That’s “well below trade estimates,” said Tom Mikulski, a senior market strategist at Lind-Waldock, a broker in Chicago. “There’s a little bit of risk premium that got pumped back into the market,” Mikulski said. Traders need to hedge their bearish bets because “something can go wrong,” and Brazil may not have a bumper crop as expected, he said. Arabica coffee for July delivery rose 0.7 cent, or 0.5 percent, to $1.3685 a pound on ICE Futures U.S. in New York, after touching $1.386, the highest price for a most-active contract since May 4. Coffee will trade between $1.30 and $1.38 for the next seven to 10 days, Mikulski sai...

By Heather Walsh Bloomberg May 10, 2010 Colombian coffee growers said production surged 88 percent in April as the crop recovered from a slump last year. Output rose to 647,000 bags, the highest level since February, from 345,000 bags in the year-earlier period after weather improved, Colombia’s National Federation of Coffee Growers said today in an e-mail statement. “Colombian coffee production has started to recover lost ground,” the federation said. Colombia, the world’s second-largest supplier of mild- tasting Arabica beans after Brazil, will increase its crop by 6.1 percent in the first six months of the year, according to the federation’s forecast. Colombian output will climb in May and June, bringing production in the first six months to 4.50 million bags from 4.24 million bags in the same period the prior year. The federation reiterated its forecast made last month. A bag weighs 60 kilograms (132 pounds). Arabica coffee has slipped 2.8 percent in five sessions, t...

Congratulations to SCAA, the participants, and the winners on job well done!  Anaheim was a success and fun too. See you all in Houston. - Wondwossen Specialty Coffee Association of America Announces Houston as Host City for 2011 Exposition SCAA Press Release May 6, 2010 LONG BEACH, Calif. U.S.A. (May 6, 2010)---The Specialty Coffee Association of America’s (SCAA) 22nd Annual Exposition & Symposium, held April 15 – 18, 2010, Anaheim, Calif., was a hit with coffee professionals, vendors and industry experts. Dubbed “The Event,” as it’s the premier and largest event for the specialty coffee industry, the Exposition and Symposium drew more than 8,000 international coffee professionals from more than 40 countries at the Anaheim Convention Center. Conference delegates focused on specialty coffee, new products and services and the latest trends and issues in the coffee marketplace. SCAA is the world's coffee authority and largest coffee trade association. “The Spe...