Poor Farmer

By Ron Day Bloomberg June 8, 2007 Coffee fell in New York after Brazil and Colombia sold beans to take advantage of a three-week rally. Futures had jumped 15 percent since May 1 to a three-month high on June 4. Brazil, the world's biggest coffee grower, and Colombia, the third-largest, are locking in prices after some sales by speculators, said George Saffadi, a trader with Olam Americas Inc. in White Plains, New York. ``Brazil and Colombia are coming to market,'' Saffadi said. ``They have coffee to sell and they are hedging.'' Coffee for July delivery fell 2 cents, or 1.7 percent, to $1.1495 a pound on the New York Board of Trade at 12:24 p.m. Colombia, which is harvesting its smaller mid-crop, is boosting production to meet increased demand from former Soviet Union countries as Brazil's output declines. Brazil's production dropped in the current season after trees entered the slower half of a two-year cycle and dry weather hindered flowering. Vietnam is t...

Bloomberg News via AZ Central Jun. 8, 2007 Starbucks Corp., the world's largest chain of coffee shops, may see sales slow as people increasingly turn to McDonald's Corp. for their daily brew, a Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. analyst said. Marc Greenberg, who is based in New York, cut his target price for Starbucks shares by 14 percent to $32 from $37. He said McDonald's switch to a new coffee blend last year has improved its reputation among consumers. "The coffee house is facing a new world order," Greenberg wrote in a note late yesterday. McDonald's is "the very last company we would choose as competition" for Starbucks. McDonald's, which reported monthly sales today that rose the most in three years, is selling iced coffee and other specialty brews at some U.S. stores. In February, Consumer Reports magazine ranked McDonald's coffee ahead of Starbucks, saying it tastes better and costs less. McDonald's coffee has "surprisingly high...

Stock Spotlight: Shares of the coffee chain have been ice cold lately, but they could start to percolate again soon. By David Ellis, CNNMoney.com staff writer June 8 2007: 10:20 AM EDT NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Forget the foam and make that latte skim, and sugar-free. Right now, Starbucks stock is really out of shape. Over the past year, shares of the Seattle-based coffee chain have been one of the worst performers in the S&P 500, tumbling about 20 percent. And after years of rapid expansion, Starbucks still has aggressive store openings planned - and it's expanded its offerings beyond macchiatos and chai tea to breakfast sandwiches, books and music. Just this week, Starbucks released ex-Beatle Paul McCartney's newest album, making him the first artist released on the company's new Hear Music record label. But with the company facing higher commodity prices and growing competition, is Starbucks stock even worth a sip? As of last month, Starbucks had about 9,800 stores ...

According to the countdown counter at the bottom-left of this page, it has been 35 days since Starbucks and the government of Ethiopia announced their agreement “in principle” and promised to sign the licensing agreement by the end of May, 2007. Though neither side is willing to discuss the details of their negotiations, the lawyers representing the parties have been working on the licensing agreement for sometime now. The public is left to suspense as the parties continue to come close to a moving deadline. With a prolonged resolution date the public’s curiosity to learn about the details of the licensing agreement is growing. I have attempted to get first hand information from second level parties, Light Years IP and Oxfam, but they have not responded to my repeated enquiries. Once again, there are signs that lead me to believe that the parties are gearing up to announce the outcome of their negotiation as early as this week. If that happens, expect a flood of breaking news articles ...

"Like virtually all Ethiopia coffees, this striking and unusual coffee is produced by villagers on small, garden plots interplanted with food and other subsistence crops.” - The respected industry Author Kenneth Davids’ website, CoffeeReview.com ------------- Press Release Minneapolis, MN Paradise Roasters June 06, 2007 Paradise Roasters, one of the most highly rated and awarded micro-roasters of coffee in America, has just garnered the highest rating ever achieved for a coffee rated by Kenneth Davids. In judging Paradise Roasters’ release of Ethiopian Biloya Special, Mr. Davids assigned it a rating of 97 points, his highest rating to date. Kenneth Davids, coffee expert, author, and co-founder of The Coffee Review, began his involvement with coffee in the early 1970s, when he opened a coffee business in Berkeley, California. Since then he published three books on coffee and has rated and reviewed thousands of different coffees. This is from Mr. Davids’ review of Paradise Roaster ...

The franchise that popularised a coffee culture in the US, is now being accused of bastardising an age old tradition. Chris Buchanan Money Web June 06, 2007 Premium coffee culture, that of the espresso, cappuccino, latté, macchiato and ristretto evolved in Europe through the invention of the piston driven espresso machine by Achille Gaggia in 1948. Until then coffee was savoured as a percolated or filtered brew in Europe and the US, and a boiled brew in the Arabic world where it is said to have been popularised in the 10th century. In 1971 Starbucks opened it first coffee house in Seattle, but it wasn't until Howard Shultz joined the company in 1981 that the right formula was achieved after intense scrutiny of the European espresso bar culture. What followed was a cult-like coffee explosion in the states. In 1990 the US overtook Germany as the biggest single importer of coffee and today imports double that of second place Germany. At fiscal year end 2006 Starbucks had 12440 stores ...

The following news article reports, “Ethiopia has just resolved a dispute with the US-based Starbucks coffee chain over trademarks after the two sides agreed in principle to sign a licensing and marketing deal which recognises the country’s ownership of its premium varieties of coffee beans.” It should be noted, however, that the two sides have not signed the agreement to date. According to the recent joint statement issued on May 3, 2007 by the Ethiopian government and Starbucks, they were supposed to sign the licensing agreement before the end of May, 2007. It is understandable that negotiations of any sort sometimes take longer time than estimated, but whenever that happens, it is important that the parties acknowledge the delay and provide explanations for missed deadlines. As a good service to the public, I think the government and Starbucks officials should issue an official notice with a renewed target date for the expected resolution of their differences. On the other hand, it ...