Poor Farmer

Business Report June 12, 2007 London - Coffee prices hit the highest level for nine years here on Tuesday, lifted by concerns over insufficient supplies from Vietnam. On the LIFFE, London's futures exchange, Robusta prices leapt to $1 918 per tonne - a pinnacle not reached since 1998. The price of Robusta coffee has surged by almost 70 percent since the same stage last year, when it was worth just over $1 100. Prices have almost tripled in value since November 2004. Coffee prices in London have rocketed as investors fret over lower exports from Vietnam, which is the world's second biggest coffee producer. "Essentially Vietnam is the worry," said Denis Seudieu, chief economist at the London-based International Coffee Organisation (ICO). "Not only are supplies there struggling to keep up, but the coffee is of a poor quality and many batches have recently been rejected at European ports." The concerns have also buoyed the price of Arabica beans which are mainl...

After about eight months of blogging, postings 200 articles (about a quarter of which are either authored or commented by me), and reading thousands of WebPages, I decided to take on a more challenging role in the coffee industry. Since news about the dispute between Ethiopia and Starbucks over the coffee trademarks broke out, I have spent several long nights reading about almost anything regarding the coffee industry (and intellectual property, and learned a great deal about both fields.) As I researched the root causes, and the subsequent handling, by both parties, of the trademark dispute, nothing surprised me most than the information gap that exists in the multi-billion dollar industry. Information exchange is so deficient in the coffee industry that most people at one end of the food chain do not have a clue about what is going on at the other end of the spectrum. Of course, there is no scarcity of information about coffee and related businesses on the internet. In fact, the info...

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 ...