Poor Farmer

The move could help the country's coffee growers to earn some $88 million more per year. By Matthew Clark The Christian Science Monitor Yirgacheffe, Ethiopia November 09, 2007 Nestled in the hills of southern Ethiopia lies a resource that could catapult this nation forward: coffee. Connoisseurs worldwide savor the beans from Yirgacheffe for their distinctive flavor. And at a time when more consumers are targeting specialty brews, Ethiopia is poised to reap the rewards of a product that commands $10 per pound in the United States. But while upscale consumers are willing to pay top dollar for the beans, farmers in Ethiopia sell their product for a pittance – less than $1 per pound. "It's like growers of Dom Perignon Champagne getting the same price as growers of bulk wine," says Ron Layton, founder and chief executive of Light Years, IP, a Washington-based group that helps producers in poor countries get better prices. But Ethiopia recently shook up the industry with a...

Classic cappuccino: Bar Italia, above, ‘makes coffee from the heart, rather than from a manual’ Photo: Courtesy of Telegraph Cappuccino wars have broken out on the high street after one of Britain's largest coffee retailers announced a steep rise in its prices. Patrick Sawer Telegraph November 04, 2007 Starbucks has put up the price of its lattes and cappuccinos by four per cent, more than twice the rate of inflation.Industry experts have warned that rival coffee outlets will inevitably follow suit.The price rise means that Starbucks' smallest cup of latte or cappuccino, the Tall, has breached the £2 barrier for the first time: it now costs £2.05. Starbucks' largest cappuccino and latte, the Venti, now costs £2.65 - an increase of 10p. It is the second time that Starbucks has raised prices since April, when a small cappuccino cost £1.89 and the Venti £2.25. The American chain, which has come to dominate the high-street coffee market since it arrived in the UK in 1998, blam...

Vices of coffee trade and coffee house: exploiting the growers, sleeping in Starbucks, quackery and gabbling Bee Wilson Times Online October 31, 2007 The film Black Gold begins with a horrible sound, a nasal rasp like pigs snorting at a trough. This sound is being made by a rare breed of American coffee tasters, slurping tiny tastes of hundreds of different espressos and giving them very precise ratings – 89.5/100, for example. These experts, who are nerdish and decadent all at once, are like the Robert Parkers of coffee. They seem to labour under the impression that their palates are brilliant computers, capable of distinguishing flavour within a micropercentage. One of the tasters stops slurping for a moment and turns to the camera. “There’s one coffee here that is probably the best coffee that I’ve ever tried. Beautiful!” Halfway through the film, we hear a different sound. It is the animal wail of a child in Sidamo, Ethiopia. She has been brought to a health clinic to be treated fo...

Virginia De Leon Spokesman Review Staff writer October 24, 2007 It's not certified fair trade, but coffee supplied by a small Liberty Lake company has helped transform the lives of poor farmers in Ethiopia. Since 2002, Dominion Trading has partnered with families and growers in the country's Yirgacheffe region not only to produce premium whole bean Arabica coffee, but to provide health care, education and other humanitarian aid to the people of Ethiopia. "We want to build relationships in order to create solutions and change lives," said Mike Stemm, general manager of Dominion Trading. The business returns 60 percent of its net profits from coffee sales to Ethiopia through profit-sharing with coffee growers and also through the New Covenant Foundation, a nonprofit also established by Stemm. So in addition to paying farmers a higher price for their coffee, Dominion Trading and the New Covenant Foundation have focused on community health care, literacy, finance, church...

By Tesfa-alem Tekle Sudan Tribune October 20, 2007 October 19, 2007 (ADDIS ABABA) — Ethiopia has collected 412 million US dollars from coffee export over the past Ethiopian year, the ministry of Agriculture and rural development Dessie Nure told walta news service. He said “Ethiopia has exported a total of 176,000 tones of coffee to the united states and other European countries over the past Ethiopian year” Ethiopia’s coffee is one of the best worldwide which accounts over 60% of the total foreign currency of the nation. “The ministry said over 100 coffee exporters and unions were involved in the export". The Ethiopian coffee trade is very important to the culture of Ethiopia. Many Ethiopians and historians believe that the word coffee came from the Ethiopian word "kafa". Coffee in Ethiopia has strong traditions that stem back to the 10th century, when coffee was discovered in Ethiopia. The farming of coffee has strong traditions with Ethiopian families. Generations of ...

By Dominique Patton Business Daily Africa October 15, 2007 Success of coffee houses like Starbucks is fuelling a shift to premium coffee in the US. The addictive ‘coffeehouse experience’ is increasingly persuading Americans to buy brands like Starbucks, Caribou and Peet’s instead of opting for traditional names like Maxwell House. This shift also means that they are prepared to pay more for premium brands, according to a new report from consumer research firm Mintel. Coffeehouse sales increased by 28 per cent in the two years to 2006. “ As a result of coffeehouse expansion and increased use, consumers have been exposed to a variety of coffees — raising the bar on consumer expectations on taste and quality, and creating the desire for taste experiences they wish to emulate at home,” say the authors. Retail brands are seeking a share of the premium trend too. Folgers launched a gourmet selection in eight varieties last year, priced at $6.39 per pound. Fair trade coffee is also seeing str...

US Company to Invest USD 50mln in Coffee Farm, Roasting Facility By Hayal Alemayehu Ethiopian Reporter October 13, 2007 B&D Food Corporation, an American-based company, is set to invest USD 50 million in coffee farm and erection of a roasting facility in Ethiopia under its recently established subsidiary, BDFC Ethiopia Industry PLC. The company has already secured 5,000 hectares of coffee farm in Jimma, Oromia region, on which it will be producing “high quality” Ethiopian coffee, company representative Benjamin Petel told The Reporter in a statement on Sunday. BDFC Ethiopia will also erect a coffee roasting facility around the coffee farm site, which had last week been handed over to it by the Oromia Investment Commission. Presently, the company is finalizing preparation to embark upon the project. “BDFC Ethiopia intends to begin planting in the coming months and, in parallel, is working on building a processing factory on the plantation grounds,” Petel said. “B&D hopes to proc...