Poor Farmer

By: Tebabu Assefa and Tamiru Degefa Global Coffee Market and Coffee Crisis Coffee is one of the most highly traded commodities in the world, second only to oil. The trade of coffee generates $80 billion every year in the global market, and that amount is growing. In 2001, coffee prices on the global market hit a 30-year low, and a humanitarian crisis ensued for the 25 million coffee farmers and families around the world, including many in Ethiopia. The fall in revenue has affected the income small farmers earned for the 'fruit of their labor" As a result, the farmers are unable to send their children to school and could not afford to pay for their basic needs. However, from the retail sides demand for coffee has risen and the coffee industry has shown remarkable profit. For example, Starbucks, an 8 billion dollar a year company, was able to sell Ethiopian Harar coffee for $26.00 per pound, whereas the farmer only received between $0.60 and $1.10 per pound and only 3 cents goes...

Part II of the transcript taken during the UK Members of Parliament questioning of Starbucks and others. Part I, " Parliament Grilled Starbucks over Ethiopia's Trademark Issue " was posted here . Part III is coming up ----------------------- UNCORRECTED TRANSCRIPT OF ORAL EVIDENCE To be published as HC 356-i House of COMMONS MINUTES OF EVIDENCE TAKEN BEFORE INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE FAIR TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT Tuesday 27 February 2007 MS SANDRA TAYLOR, MR CLIFF BURROWS and MR MIKE BARRY Evidence heard in Public Questions 1 - 82 Oral Evidence Taken before the International Development Committee on Tuesday 27 February 2007 Members present Malcolm Bruce, in the Chair John Barrett John Battle John Bercow Richard Burden James Duddridge Ann McKechin Joan Ruddock Mr Marsha Singh Examination of Witnesses Witnesses: Ms Sandra Taylor, Senior Vice President, Corporate Social Responsibility, Starbucks Coffee Company, Mr Cliff Burrows, Senior Vice President and President of ...

Part I. This is a transcript of the UK Members of Parliament questioning Starbucks and others. In this edition, only a section pertinent to the trademark dispute between Ethiopia and Starbucks is published. Future postings will present the other sections related to Fair Trade and other topics. --------------- UNCORRECTED TRANSCRIPT OF ORAL EVIDENCE To be published as HC 356-i House of COMMONS MINUTES OF EVIDENCE TAKEN BEFORE INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE FAIR TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT Tuesday 27 February 2007 MS SANDRA TAYLOR, MR CLIFF BURROWS and MR MIKE BARRY Evidence heard in Public Questions 1 - 82 Oral Evidence Taken before the International Development Committee on Tuesday 27 February 2007 Members present Malcolm Bruce, in the Chair John Barrett John Battle John Bercow Richard Burden James Duddridge Ann McKechin Joan Ruddock Mr Marsha Singh Examination of Witnesses Witnesses: Ms Sandra Taylor, Senior Vice President, Corporate Social Responsibility, Starbucks Coffee Company, ...

Is Starbucks "The Coffee That Cares?" - Baristas And Coffee Farmers Demand Living Wages - Baristas Demand The Right To Organize - Coffee Farmers Demand Ethiopian Trademarks - Coffee Farmers Demand A Share Of Retail Sales Join Us For A Celebration Of Resistance At The Starbucks Annual Meeting Wednesday, March 21 @ 9 A.M. Marion Oliver Mccaw Hall At The Seattle Center Mercer Street, Between Third And Fourth Avenues Seattle, Washington Want To Learn More? Come To A Screening Of Black Gold And Make Signs Friday March 16th @ 6pm Cascade People's Center 309 Pontius Avenue North Seattle, Washington For more info or to get involved contact organizer Tomer Malchi at 646-753-1167 Baristas At Starbucks Demand Justice In contrast to Starbucks' socially responsible image, Barista Sarah Bender's story illustrates the dark side of its force. When she started in 2004 in Manhattan, she was paid $7.75 an hour; she now earns $10.10. Initially, she got from 20 to 35 hours of work...

The Lawyers' Angle Starbucks fights plan to license famous regional names, but then moves to mollify; both sides take campaign to YouTube By Alexia Garamfalvi Legal Times March 5, 2007 Robert Winter, a senior partner at Arnold & Porter, probably never thought he’d be pushing his client’s point of view on YouTube when he agreed to help the government of Ethiopia protect the intellectual property associated with the names of three of its most famous coffee-growing regions. But last week he defended the country’s initiative to trademark and license the coffee names in a video posted on the site . It was a response to a widely viewed video posted in December by Dub Hay, Starbucks Coffee Co. senior vice president, claiming the trademark and licensing scheme was illegal. “It’s plain silly — there’s nothing illegal at all,” Winter says in a grainy video of him in his office, responding to questions that flash on the screen. The video’s format and typical low-budget YouTube aesthetic ...

Chain's Image Rattled By Trademark Spat; Hints of Chocolate, Rum About a year ago, Starbucks’ lack of responsiveness to the Ethiopian government’s request to drop its application for Shirkina Sun-Dried Sidamo coffee and to discuss the licensing agreement was grating. Even after the dispute came to the public’s attention, the company has been dragging its feet and misleading the public. As the following report reveals, the company is still pursuing their intransigent actions by trying to persuade Ethiopia to buy into the company’s good-will. At the outset of the public campaign to pressure Starbucks to respect the Ethiopia’s farmers and come to the table to discuss the issue, some feared that Starbucks would stop buying coffee from Ethiopia, thereby hurting the farmers. Those familiar with the company’s behavior said, it was unlike Starbucks to seek revenge in public. Also, they argued, Starbucks is expanding and needs more of Ethiopia’s coffees to supply the thousands of stor...

Starbucks’ officials have so far been successful in concealing the company's unfair business practices under the touted Coffee and Farmers Equity (CAFÉ) Practice - a PR tool which has given the wrong impression to consumers and shareholders that the company was doing its business in a “socially responsible” manner. In reality, while Starbucks scores record profits, the farmers are trapped in a vicious circle of poverty. Starbucks is mindful of its own profits with little regard to the people behind its brand. According to the the Wall Street Journal (subscription), Starbucks officials are satisfied with their relationship with the farmers and are thankful of the "gift": "I looked everyone in the eye and shook their hand and said, 'Thank you for giving us this wonderful product,'" recalls Dub Hay, the Starbucks executive. "It's one of the more special things I've ever experienced." In the report, “ Starbucks vs. Ethiopia ,” posted here...