Poor Farmer

Breaking its silence , the government disclosed details of Starbucks CEO Jim Donald’s Ethiopia visit to the public. The Embassy in Washington D.C., also known for its antiquated business styles even at Ethiopia’s standards, posted the press release on its website today. As a result, we now know that the CEO and his team of executives have not succeeded in their attempts to influence the authorities either. As expected, Starbucks’ executives have expressed their “willingness to help the poor farmers and to promote Ethiopian fine coffees.” It is not clear, however, if the executives have visited the farmers’ living conditions. The press release reads, “Both parties agreed to cooperate and work together in the protection and use of the Intellectual Property Rights of Ethiopia’s specialty coffee names and for Starbucks to promote high quality Ethiopian coffees produced under the umbrella of C.A.F.E (Coffee and Farmer Equity) practices.” I am not a fan of the C.A.F.E. practices because the...

Starbucks CEO Meets with Ethiopia Over Ownership of Coffee Names (Pic credit: scidev.net) To: National Desk Contact: Helen DaSilva 617-728-2409 or 617-331-2984, or Laura Rusu 202-496-3620 or 202-459-3739, both of Oxfam America WASHINGTON, Nov. 29 /U.S. Newswire/ -- International aid agency Oxfam welcomed Tuesday's meeting between Starbucks CEO Jim Donald and Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, but urged the international coffee giant to stop dragging its feet before the holidays, and instead recognize Ethiopia's ownership of its coffee names and the enormous benefits that ownership could bring to the 15 million poor Ethiopians who depend on coffee for their livelihood. "It's significant that after a year of trying to engage Starbucks on trademarks, the company finally sat down to discuss the issue directly with Ethiopia," said Seth Petchers, Oxfam International's Make Trade Fair campaign coffee lead. "Starbucks must now follow up with immediate action to recogn...

When masks of “Corporate Social Responsibility” (CSR) accidentally fall off, the true nature of globalization is revealed. Thanks to The Forbes , CSR now stands for , at least to me, Continuing Slavery at a Remote (because slavery is illegal in the constitutions governing the business laws.) In my view, the following article concludes, the price Starbucks pays for the specialty coffees - under the C.A.F.E. practices - in the amount of $1.28/lp should be enough for Ethiopian farmers. If not, the CSR, along with its C.A.F.E. program, should be taken away because people are not thankful anyways! The magazine goes on to discourse that we should be happy (and probably proud of the “smart”, read unethical, business strategies the company followed because) Starbucks is good to its employees. The poor farmers would admire such neo-colonialist rhetoric since they do not know that Starbucks sells Shirkina Sun Dried Sidamo Coffee for $27/lp. [The Forbes article is posted below to provoke healthy...

7 Comments on the trademark issue prompted by " The government must start to talk publicly " Anonymous said... I really do not see the point of fighting with Starbucks when the govt does nothing even minimal to help the coffee farmers at a local level. Why should the govt. be allowed to own the trademark when the govt. does not even allow the coffee farmers to own their land? I don't trust our government is working for the benefit of the Ethiopian farmer. In fact, I am concerned that this battle will now encourage Starbucks ot not increase their sale of Ethiopian coffee. November 25, 2006 3:17:00 PM PST Anonymous said... Thank you for your very useful and informative blog about the Starbucks brouhaha. I honestly I'm having a hard time figuring out all the twists and turns in the arguments as far as all parties are concerned. But I do have some preliminary comments/questions: 1)I agree that this is a good move on the part of the government to shift the balance of power...

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...