Poor Farmer

Here is a balanced, well researched report from the Seattle PI. Please visit the paper by clicking here . Coming up is a report on my express visit to Starbucks headquarters today; I had the pleasure of meeting with two Starbucks senior Vice Presidents and six other experts and Directors - all within one hour. ---------- By CRAIG HARRIS P-I REPORTER March 20, 2007 Like other investors in Starbucks Corp., Elizabeth Moon hasn't been thrilled with the company's traditionally high-flying stock taking a considerable slide this year. Yet the retired Seattle insurance adjuster views the 11 percent drop since the end of 2006 as a blip in the road and says she's looking forward to today's annual meeting in McCaw Hall. "The stock has gone up the past couple three days, and that is good, because we had a down trend for a while," said Moon, whose investment in the past six years has increased more than 200 percent. "But I think it's a well-run company and one of...

In their report, " Justice from Bean to Cup," IWW Starbucks Workers Union ask, " Can Starbucks provide "an uplifting experience that enriches people's lives one moment, one human being, one extraordinary cup of coffee at a time" when its farmers' families are starving, and its baristas require public assistance?" The Union and their supporter along with supporters of the Ethiopian farmers are preparing to hold protests during Starbucks Annual Meeting of Shareholders . As part of their call for protest, Union leaders held a Press Conference at Labor Temple today. The following is extracted from the booklet "Starbucks 2006 Corporate IRRESPONSIBILITY Report," which they say will be distributed to participants of the Annual Shareholders Meeting. The full text (.pdf) is found here. --------------- Starbucks 2006 IRRESPONSIBILITY Report JUSTICE--fairness to all parties, as dictated by reason and conscience... Can Starbucks provide "an up...

By Nichola Groom Reuters Mon Mar 19, 2007 10:04 PM BST LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Starbucks Corp. (SBUX.O: Quote , Profile , Research ) management, facing a battered share price and concerns about dilution of its brand, is expected to reassure investors at its annual meeting this week that its aggressive growth plans are still on track. Since hitting an all-time high in November, Starbucks shares have lost more than 20 percent as investors fret over profit margins that have lagged expectations and, most recently, a high-profile memo in which Chairman Howard Schultz warned of the "commoditization" of its iconic brand. Investors are eager for the company to address those concerns at Wednesday's meeting in Seattle. "Will management boost investor confidence with hints of current trends, announce more aggressive share repurchase intentions, discuss compelling innovation or offer other meaningful commentary?" UBS analyst David Palmer wrote to clients on Monday...

Black Gold previewed at a public screening on Saturday, March 17, 2007 at the Northwest Film Forum in Seattle. The screening was followed by a panel discussion and audience Q & A moderated by Melissa Noelle Green, a local educator, author, and spoken word poet.** The panel discussion marked the first time for fair trade activists and a Starbucks representative appearing together at a public screening of the documentary film in Seattle. Since the film’s screening at the Seattle International Film Festival in early June, 2006, Starbucks turned down several requests to join local grass-roots fair trade organizations for Q & A sessions. Starbucks is facing growing pressure from consumers who are opposing the company’s actions against Ethiopian coffee farmers. Since the trademark dispute with Ethiopia is publicized, the public has been expressing its discontent with the company’s business practices which happened to be incompatible with the perceived socially responsible brand. T...

By Thomas Omestad Nation & World March 16, 2007 It's not a position that a star of 21st-century retailing admired for its social good works–Starbucks Coffee Co.–is accustomed to being in. But this week, two executives from the Seattle-based caffeine giant came to Washington, in part, to defend their coffee-buying practices in Ethiopia and elsewhere and to reinforce the message that Starbucks is supporting poor farmers, who in any case receive a relatively small share of what consumers ultimately spend on their cuppa joe. The executives met with lawmakers on Capitol Hill and senior officials at the State Department and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, along with some in Washington's large community of Ethiopian-Americans. The company has been uncommonly stung by criticism from nongovernmental groups as well as some Ethiopians that it had earlier tried to discourage Ethiopia from trademarking some of its regional coffees–and that it was still refusing to sign a li...

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