Poor Farmer

By Christopher Adams The New Zealand Herald July 31, 2010 Starbucks says it hopes to secure a supply of 100 per cent Fairtrade coffee for its New Zealand stores within the next 12 months. The international coffee chain at present offers just one Fairtrade option in this country - brewed coffee - possibly leaving some Kiwi frappuccino drinkers with a guilty conscience. Starbucks' website says the chain is already one of the world's biggest buyers of Fairtrade coffee, snapping up 16 per cent of the global supply. Chris Buddle, the general manager for Starbucks New Zealand, which is part of Restaurant Brands, said the firm was working hard to secure a reliable supply of the certified coffee. He said he was sceptical about claims by some of Starbucks' rivals, which he would not name, that they used 100 per cent Fairtrade coffee. As the number of stores Starbucks had in New Zealand - about 40 - was similar to that of its main competitors, he said he was unsure how...

By Heather Walsh Bloomberg July 09, 2010 Exports will drop below last year’s estimated 95.5 million bags and slide from 2008’s 97.7 million bags, ICO Executive Director Nestor Osorio said in an interview yesterday. He didn’t specify the amount or percentage decline expected this year. “There is less coffee available,” Osorio said by telephone from London. “That’s also reflected in the price.” Coffee prices have increased 19 percent this year in New York amid a shortfall that has prompted investment funds to bet on gains, he said. Production in Colombia, the second-largest producer of mild-tasting arabica beans, dropped to a 33-year low in 2009. Colombia may produce less than 9 million bags in the year that began Oct. 1, Osorio said. In the first six months of the year, the crop unexpectedly slid to 4.04 million bags from 4.24 million bags a year earlier, Colombia’s National Federation of Coffee Growers said yesterday. In February, the group forecast output for the period...