Every day in the early hours of the morning, the farmers of the region of Oromia head out of the coffee plantations in the Ethiopian highlands for a day’s work. Often barefoot to reach for miles, the peasants use their bare hands to get to the coffee beans from the steep mountains at high elevations and a blazing sun. For these farmers and their families, coffee farming is the only way of living in one of the poorest countries to earn the world. They earn less than a dollar a day.
Half the world, sleepy office workers line up at the Starbucks on 14 St. in New York City, ready, three dollars for their first shot of caffeine to pay. Starbucks, the world with over 11,000 stores and annual revenue of over $ 7 billion gets much of his coffee from countries such as Ethiopia.
Since its founding in 1985, the company is fair trade as part of their corporate image promoted. Starbucks has wooed its customers with politically correct “Fair Trade” Ethiopian coffee, cut in fine packaging. But the relationship between the company and the farmer is more complicated than it seems. Recently there has been a growing controversy about was whether or not Ethiopian farmers and the Ethiopian economy with a fair treatment received from the multinational group. This debate has triggered a fervent campaign by Fair Trade organizations, unions and the Ethiopian government, the public will challenge the ethics of the company.
Conducting business responsibly
Starbucks claims that it enjoys a positive relationship with coffee farmers. With its “commitment to social responsibility, Starbucks developed an integrated approach to coffee sourcing with CAFE (Coffee and Farmer Equity Practices), a set of socially responsible coffee buying guidelines. This sustainable strategy to improve working conditions for farmers, helping them earn more, while protecting the environment.
Starbuck is committed to paying premium prices for all his efforts, coffee and coffee than to buy fair trade certified coffee. Starbucks global purchasing Fair Trade Certified coffee was 11th five million pounds in fiscal year 2005, making it the largest purchaser of Fair Trade Certified coffee in North America, “the company stated in a brochure. “In addition to paying premium prices for all our coffee, our investments in projects of social development and access to affordable credit in coffee-growing regions for their leadership role was recognized within the industry,” Starbucks said in a press statement in October 2006.
Trade Mark Blocking
However, Ethiopian farmers believe that they get the short end of the stick in this relationship. While Starbucks continues to generate billions of dollars a year, Ethiopian farmers and their supporters believe that Starbucks does not want to see them or their country to reap similar gains.
Oxfam International, a British human rights organization, claims that Starbucks try the Ethiopian governments to block the trademark names of its coffee in Harar, Sidamo and Yirgacheffe regions, the impoverished country can deny a turnover trying to grown to $ 80,000,000. The U.S. National Coffee Association (NCA) is trying to block efforts trademarks and Oxfam accused Starbucks, behind this effort. Although Starbucks denies this allegation, said Oxfam spokeswoman Jo Leadbetter gives it claim to be valid. ‘We have a number of sources that actually Starbucks was in the U.S. coffee association attention to these applications block party and that it “reeks of management bullying,’” says Leadbetter heard.
According to Oxfam, for every cup of coffee at Starbucks sells, farmers in Ethiopia early on only $. 2003, received a very small portion of the profits generated from their coffee consumers. “Ethiopian coffee farmers are often about 10 percent of the profits from these coffees. The rest goes to the coffee industry players who can control the sales price, the international importers, traders and roasters such as Starbucks,” Oxfam’s Fair Web site addresses indicated . In response, Oxfam has launched a campaign for fair trade farmers in the Ethiopian highlands of support in life. “Starbucks has help in some positive first steps, dedicated coffee farmers live in poverty. I do not understand why they did not take the next step to come and on the table to Ethiopia to discuss the proposal in good faith,” said Seth Petcher, Oxfam America’s Coffee Program Manager.
Ethiopian coffee industry
Ethiopia as the birthplace of Arabica coffee from the coffee region, known to depend on the production of coffee for its economy. Coffee production is so important to the agriculture-based economy of Ethiopia, 50-60% of that income comes from coffee exports. The industry employs one out of four people. An estimated 15 million coffee farmers and their families depend on coffee for their survival.
Coffee is also a central element of Ethiopian culture, traditions, date from the 10th Century, when the first tree was domesticated in the southwestern highlands of the country. Coffee is so important to the daily routine of life in Ethiopia, the “coffee ceremonies” happen every day across the country. One-third of national production is consumed domestically.
Starbucks’ potential impact on the Ethiopian market
If Ethiopia successfully in the trade mark of beans, will allow the country to the use of his beans on the market, so check the farmers a bigger share of the sales price. “Securing the trademark for its Sidamo, Harar and Yirgacheffe coffee beans could increase the country to its negotiation leverage through control of the name, and finally (derived) a greater percentage of the selling price in the global market,” Ethiopian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
The potential benefit to the Ethiopian market is enormous, according Fitsum Hailu, the Second Secretary of the Trade Investment at the Ethiopian Embassy. “Grow as manufacturers can not thrive only by improving the conditions of production and quality but also by the construction, the value of its portfolio of intellectual property rights, then everyone in the coffee industry – including partners in trade and sales, and consumers – reap benefits. “Fitsum adds that, in a case such as in Ethiopia,” more power to negotiate millions of coffee farmers and merchants allow you to grow and invest in the future these fine coffees. ”
Ethiopia’s position
Tadesse Meskela, the representative of the Oromia Coffee Farmers Cooperative Union in Ethiopia, agrees with Fitsum. After Meskela sold Starbucks coffee for $ 14. 00 per pound, but pays only $ 1. 20 per pound, not even the cost of production.
However, Mr Meskela that the coffee farmers working with the World Trade Organization, not just Starbucks. In a telephone interview he said: “The WTO manages a vast amount of lucrative trade, and a change must be made in the international trade laws. The price that we [farmers] is to get very low and it is lower because the unfair trade practices laws. ”
Meskela working hard to save 74,000 impoverished coffee farmers, and he is on a mission to buyers who are ready to find pay a fair price for their coffee. Meskela is the main character in Black Gold, a documentary with the experience of coffee growers, the consumers, who opposes the purchase of products on the other side of the world. “This film shows the vulnerability of the coffee farmers and the disconnect that exists between the poor farmers and huge profits. Oxfam seeks to correct the imbalance of power at the root of unfair trade practices,” said Petch.
Starbucks’ Position
In response to the Oxfam campaign Starbucks has launched a counterattack. “We never be an opposition against the Ethiopian government trademark application is filed, nor claimed ownership to any regional names used to describe the origin of our coffees,” the company said. Dub Hay, Starbucks senior said vice president of Coffee and Global Procurement BBC radio: “We have not attempted to Ethiopia experiments involving block. We do not have the NCA are involved, in fact it was the other way around. They were those who contacted us on this issue. ”
While Starbucks denies behind the brand-blocking process, the company does not believe that the trade mark in the best interest of farmers and the Ethiopian economy. “Were Trade to be implemented – roasters might shy away from buying the coffees for fear itself embroiled in complicated legal disputes. Or, worse yet, they can buy, the market just coffee and without the trademarked names. Letting the beans on the high quality market go without a geographic identification would completely undermine the value of the trademark “Starbucks said in a statement.
The Ethiopian government asked Starbucks also to enable an agreement that Ethiopia would have signed the ownership of its coffee. Refused, however, Starbucks to sign such an agreement, as the company considers that if Ethiopia were his trademark products would be without it themselves out of the market. After Hailu, this is grossly insulting. “The only way this statement could be true is if Ethiopia managed entirely bad the marks if they have purchased, and I hope that Starbucks does not accept that Ethiopia is incapable of managing intellectual property in connection with assets of one of its most important exports, “Hailu said.
As an alternative to trademarking products, Starbucks is proposing the development of the geographical certification programs. Through certification programs, a country such as the origin of a product are identified. Starbucks said that these systems are more effective than registering trademarks for geographically specific names, such as the regional name of the Ethiopian government is trying brand. The brand called the manufacturer of a product or commodity, while the certification indicates that the product quality product standards. Alain Poncelet, Starbucks’ Green Coffee Purchasing head of interview with SPIEGEL ONLINE, the German online newspaper that his company “is all for Ethiopia” protecting its regional names, “not only by trademark.”
This position is not much press, however. The company received more than 70,000 calls and faxes from concerned consumers show support for farmers. But has this negative publicity have on the house-hold name and influence multi-billion dollar company? “Probably not,” says a Starbucks employee in New York City, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “People are so to be on coffee, that she is not affected by something that happens so far away hooked. The only people protesting Starbucks are a minority of activists. Everyone else is thinking only of its own problems.” The staff also spoke a lot of Starbucks treatment of employees. “They treat their employees better than most companies, they also give a lot back into the community”, he said.
Power Positioning
Meskela As pointed out how the fight between the coffee farmers and Starbucks not only the issue of trademark rights. It also shows the way coffee farmers are almost entirely left out of the trading industry between governments and businesses. The question deals with the reality that farmers in “developing countries” is not much bargaining power in international trade.
Senait Assefa, a resident from New York from Ethiopia, believes that the strengthening should the position of coffee farmers in the international market is not the focus of efforts to Starbucks. “The coffee manufacturers should join together to control the supply of coffee in the international market, thus enabling themselves to their own terms (much like oil producing countries to manipulate the oil price by reducing or increasing the production and supply to dictate)”, Assefa said. However, Assefa acknowledges that this may not work. “While oil is a resource that only few countries are endowed with, almost anyone can grow coffee,” she added.
Although coffee is a plant that can grow in different regions, the high quality of Ethiopian coffee is what makes it so unique. Ethiopian farmers are working as hard to stop, so as to produce fine quality coffee is their position in the international trade market just beginning to receive worldwide attention, thanks to the tireless work of Meskela and others. While the battle remains to trademark its coffee, the coffee farmers are also left to the trade of laws that make them invisible in the chain of the international fight players.
