Poor Farmer

By Angela Moore , MarketWatch Mar 16, 2007 NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Starbucks Corp. will be hosting its shareholder meeting next week, and industry watchers will be looking for reassurance that the coffee-shop operator's growth plans are on track. Starbucks' annual meetings are usually staid affairs, but after a few bumpy weeks recently, an uneventful meeting could help quell investor concerns. "Typically, the shareholders' meeting is not that much of an event from a Wall Street perspective; [executives] talk about the things they've accomplished," Friedman Billings Ramsey analyst Ashley Woodruff told MarketWatch on Friday. "What makes it different this year is that there's fear that they might slow their growth rate. People are looking for them to reiterate earnings per-share guidance and long-term growth targets." Seattle-based Starbucks ( SBUX : Starbucks Corp SBUX 30.58, +0.99, +3.3%) has been grappling with two lackluster quarters; compet...

By Florangela Davila, Seattle Times TV writer The Seattle Times Saturday March 17, 2007 " Black Gold ," a documentary about the international coffee trade and its effects on Ethiopian farmers, will be previewed at a public screening at 4 p.m. Saturday at the Northwest Film Forum, 1515 12th Ave. in Seattle. The screening will be followed by a panel discussion featuring Cindy Hoots, senior specialist in corporate social responsibility for Starbucks; fair-trade activist Wondwossen Mezlekia ( www.poorfarmer.blogspot.com ); Becky Matter of Fair Trade Puget Sound; and Ethiopian children's book author and illustrator Sultan Mohamed. The film, part of the Independent Television Service, will also air on PBS stations nationwide. The KCTS air date is 11 p.m. April 15. Copyright © 2007 The Seattle Times Company

Starbucks Coffee Company will host its 2007 Annual Meeting of Shareholders on Wednesday, March 21, 2007 in Seattle, Washington at the Marion Oliver McCaw Hall at the Seattle Center. Organizers of the “Workers Unite to Demand Justice from Starbucks” campaign invite the public to join them send a message to the shareholders. Following is their message: ---------------- Baristas At Starbucks Demand Justice The financial reality for Baristas at Starbucks contrasts sharply with the image portrayed by the company. Behind the smiles and green aprons, many Starbucks workers are living in poverty because Starbucks fails to pay a living wage fails to assign baristas regular work schedules. Poverty wages : Baristas starting wages range from $6-$8.75 an hour. In contrast, at Costco, another retailer, workers start at well over $10 an hour. No guaranteed hours : All workers are part-time with no option for full time status. At Costco, workers who want full-time work can get it. Starbucks health...

Reuters NAIROBI, Thursday March 16, 2007 Kenya’s coffee output in 2006 rose by six per cent to 50,528 tonnes, compared with the previous year. This was due to better prices and favourable weather, a monthly economic review by the central bank said today. The production has suffered due to poor earnings and mismanagement in the small holder sector. “The upturn in the coffee output reflected improved crop husbandry and favourable weather,” the Central Bank of Kenya bulletin said, adding the country produced 47,650 tonnes in 2005. “The modest growth was also boosted by favourable trends in prices which rose from $2,329 per tonne in 2005 to $2,649 per tonne in 2006,” it said. Kenya’s coffee sector, whose output peaked at 130,000 tonnes in the 1987/88 crop year, has been recovering in the past four years after reforms to reverse nearly two decades of decline. Already highly indebted due to poor earnings and high production costs, many smallholder farmers have had little access to affordable...

NUTRA By staff reporter March 14, 2007 Coffee prices recorded a further downward correction in February but were still at higher levels than the average for 2006, according to the ICO. The ICO (International Coffee Organisation) composite indicator price fluctuated between a range of 101.99 -106.17 US cents/lb during the month compared to 103.92 - 109.09 US cents/lb in January. (Read the Coffee Market Report February 2007 under Coffee Links at the side bar of this page) "The 'El Nino' phenomenon, which had decreased in intensity in December 2006, became slightly stronger in January 2007 before slackening again in February," said the organisation. "It is still too early, however, to assess its impact on the coffee economy. In relation to the Brazilian situation, information received from EMBRAPA indicates that coffee producers are currently concerned about the unseasonable flowering of coffee trees." This phenomenon has occurred since December 2006 in som...

The same event is attracting other stakeholders' attention. Several people are expected to flock outside the meeting hall - uninvited, according to organizers of this call. ---------------- Starbucks Announces Upcoming Events SEATTLE; March 14, 2007 Annual Meeting of Shareholders - March 21, 2007 Starbucks Coffee Company (NASDAQ: SBUX) will host its 2007 Annual Meeting of Shareholders on the morning of Wednesday, March 21, 2007 in Seattle, Washington at the Marion Oliver McCaw Hall at the Seattle Center. The meeting is scheduled to begin at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time and will include presentations by Howard Schultz, chairman; Jim Donald, president and ceo; and Martin Coles, president, Starbucks Coffee International, as well as voting on corporate matters. Attendees must present an admission ticket for the Annual Meeting of Shareholders. A live webcast of the meeting may be accessed via the following address: http://investor.starbucks.com . An archive of the webcast will be availab...

Business Report March 15, 2007 From Reuters Addis Ababa - Ethiopian coffee farmers and exporters yesterday accused Starbucks of using delaying tactics in the country's attempts to trademark its best beans. Ethiopia, which prides itself as the birthplace of coffee, was trying to win trademarks for its Sidamo and Harar coffees in the US and said the coffee shop giant was stonewalling its bid. "When Starbucks announced that it will not block Ethiopia's initiative and also increase volume of coffee it purchases, we all welcomed it, believing that it would … open the door for negotiations with the company," said Hailu Gebre Hiwot, chairman of the Ethiopian Coffee Exporters Association. "But we have yet to see any effort made by Starbucks to come to the table and discuss technical issues on the royalty free licensing agreement Ethiopia is asking it to sign." However, President Girma Woldegiorgis said Ethiopia was confident that it would win the trademarks. No Star...