Poor Farmer

Madeleine Acey, Enterprise Editor, Times Online, November 27, 2006 Academic warns American chain that customers will go elsewhere if it places profit before ethics Starbucks was accused yesterday of “playing Russian roulette” with its brand as a row over prices for Ethiopian coffee farmers intensified. (Pic: Christian Aid) As an Oxford academic lambasted the American coffee shops chain, Jim Donald, Starbucks’ chief executive, was preparing to visit Ethiopia tomorrow for talks with Meles Zenawi, its Prime Minister, The Times has learnt. Douglas Holt, the L’Oréal Professor of Marketing at Oxford University’s Saïd Business School, accused Starbucks of hypocrisy and abuse of power and said that the company was in danger of damaging its name among its educated middle-class customers by opposing Addis Ababa’s attempts to trademark Ethiopia’s coffee varieties in the United States. The international coffee chain had worked hard to cultivate a progressive image, selling fair trade and “ethical”...

It is high time that the government in Addis and its Embassy here in the US must talk about the trademark issue openly to the public. Enough for the silence! The anti-poverty organizations’ innovative and sophisticated approach to eradicate poverty in Ethiopia is admirable. Utilizing the IP initiative for development will undoubtedly have a lasting positive impact on the coffee sector in Ethiopia. However, the coffee sector as we know it is composed of the poor farmers, a chain of rural merchants, middlemen, and exporters. The proportionate size of the revenue realized by those farmers, who travel bare foot for hours through ruthless situations only to end up selling their coffees to the roadside merchants at the nearby rural village, is at the bottom end of the coffee trade chain even at local standards. The farmers are exploited not only by the world’s giant coffee roasters but also by the greedy and merciless middlemen that do not have sympathy for the producers. Coffee farmers in E...

The media campaign spearheaded by Oxfam has sparked a widespread discussion among the public. Starbucks’ business tactics also have made their way out, through its press releases, only leaving readers perplexed. I hope the following Q&A will clarify some of the questions surrounding the trademark issues being debated throughout the past few weeks. As far as my own research goes, this Fine Coffee Trademark Licensing Initiative is part of an innovative and sophisticated strategy to claim a greater share of the export value of its products and which rightly belongs to its people. The Fine Coffee Trademark Licensing Initiative aims at securing Ethiopia’s legal ownership of its specialty coffee names through trademark registration. The project is funded in part by the UK’s Department for International Development. According to Oxfam, “intellectual property assets such as technological know-how, patents, trademarks, brand names and copyrights increasingly make up the majority of the pro...

"Sometimes you have to turn questions upside down to find the right answer. If trademarking Ethiopia’s Specialty coffees translates to a gain of $88 million annually for the poor farmer, why is it not helpful to trademark? Who is the legitimate owner of the names Sidamo, Yirgacheffe, and Harar? How come it was ok for Starbucks to use ‘Sidamo’ when it applied in 2004 (later dropped) for ‘Shirkina Sundried Sidamo’ trademark?" - read more at "Starbucks' prescription for Ethiopia: GI certification or chat ."

Oxfam Press Release - 16 November 2006 More than 70,000 sign Oxfam petition calling on Starbucks to sign licensing agreement to recognise Ethiopia’s ownership rights to coffee names As of today over 70,000 people have taken Oxfam’s online action urging coffee giant Starbucks to review its position in relation to Ethiopia’s attempts to claim ownership of the country’s most famous coffee names. The public has mobilised impressively since Oxfam revealed the obstacles faced by Ethiopia to gain more value from its high quality coffee beans. Ethiopia, an extremely poor country that produces some of the best coffee in the world, is trying to gain greater leverage in a supply chain that is weighed down by injustice and inequity and biased against producers. Control of its coffee names through trademarking would give Ethiopia a fairer share of the profits of the global coffee trade. “It’s amazing to see how many people have been moved to take action,” said Seth Petchers, Oxfam International’s M...

Each year, coffee companies rake in profit by the billions. Last year alone, Starbucks earned $5.8 billion in net revenues. Yet, for every cup of coffee Starbucks sells ($1.80 for a venti), poor farmers in coffee-growing countries like Ethiopia make about three cents. Call on Starbucks to give farmers their fair share of coffee profits. Cheap overseas labor and production is nothing new for large corporations. But Starbucks claims to be different. Their website states: "Starbucks strongly believes in the importance of building mutually-beneficial relationships with coffee farmers and coffee communities with which we work." In reality, Starbucks rakes in premium profits that Ethiopian brand names command, while the farmers providing their supply have been left behind in poverty. With as many as 15 million Ethiopians dependent on coffee revenues, the Ethiopian government has asked Starbucks to sign a licensing agreement that will give Ethiopia trademark control over the names o...

www.ethiomedia.com By Wondwossen Mezlekia, Seattle Novemeber 13, 2006 Ethiopia, the birthplace of coffee, and Starbucks, the world’s Specialty coffee giant, dominated headlines of the major media outlets in an uncanny coming together. The controversy over Ethiopia’s trademark application for its finest coffees was brought to the public’s attention by Oxfam, a non-profit, anti-poverty organization after several months of unsuccessful attempts to convince Starbucks to lift its block on Ethiopia’s application to own its coffee names. Starbucks swears its hands are not behind the bump on the trademark process but refused to talk about it despite repeated calls by Ethiopia and Oxfam. It took a good deal of pressure from consumers responding to calls by Oxfam to bring Starbucks to the table, and even when it did so, it came with strings and excuses that lead to nowhere. The Ethiopian Fine Coffee Trademark Licensing Initiative, a project funded in part by the UK’s Department for International...