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Oxfam Urges
Starbucks to Honor Its Claims of Support for Ethiopian
Coffee Farmers
Other Topics: Coffee Variant
Oxfam International
March 21, 2007
Coffee giant faces daunting task of living up to its
socially responsible image
Boston, MA -- On the day of Starbucks’ Annual
General Meeting, international aid agency Oxfam reminds
shareholders that Starbucks continues to ignore calls from
Ethiopian coffee farmers and exporters to sign a
royalty-free licensing agreement that would allow
Ethiopian ownership of its coffee trademarks.
By seeking
the right to control its most famous coffee trademarks –
Sidamo, Harar and Yirgacheffe – Ethiopia aims to work with
the worldwide coffee industry to build the value of its
coffee ‘brands’ and give its farmers a greater share of
the retail value of their coffees. Coffee is among the
most valuable commodities in Ethiopia, one of the world’s
poorest countries, and these rights could help lift
farmers and their families out of poverty.
“Starbucks continues to break its promises to the poorest
communities,” said Seth Petchers, coffee lead in Oxfam
International’s Make Trade Fair campaign. “The company has
branded itself as a friend to poor farmers. But when these
farmers seek the right to own their coffee brands and
compete in the global market on an even playing field,
Starbucks refuses to support them.”
In mid-February, Starbucks issued a joint release with the
government of Ethiopia stating that the company would no
longer stand in the country’s way to obtain trademarks.
However, since that meeting, Starbucks has balked at
signing a voluntary licensing agreement and has refused to
engage in good-faith discussions with Ethiopia about the
trademarking initiative.
Ethiopia has continued to garner support for this project,
most recently from the deputy secretary-general of the
twenty-member Common Market for Eastern and Southern
Africa at the East Africa Fine Coffees Association meeting
in Addis Ababa last month. Ethiopian farmers, in a recent
statement from the Ethiopian Fine Coffee Farmers
Cooperative Unions and Exporters, accused Starbucks of
dodging the real issues and encouraged the coffee chain to
sign the licensing agreement.
In a Valentine’s Day memo to staff leaked to the public in
February, Starbucks Chairman Howard Schultz stated that
changes that have come with rapid growth and success also,
“have lead to the watering down of the Starbucks
experience.” Earlier this month, Schultz told Fortune
magazine that "Starbucks is the quintessential
people-based business… Everything we do is about
humanity."
“If Starbucks is seriously committed to humanity, it needs
to change its position and agree to negotiate a licensing
agreement with Ethiopia that respects its ownership of its
unique coffee trademarks,” said Petchers. “Starbucks has
retailed these Ethiopian coffees for as much as $26 a
pound yet most Ethiopian coffee farmers struggle to
survive on one dollar a day.”
At its Annual General Meeting today, Starbucks is
celebrating growth of more than 20 percent in net revenues
over the past year. Meanwhile, coffee farmers struggle to
meet their most basic needs.
“Is this the best that a company that is all about
humanity can do?” asked Petchers. “It’s time for Starbucks
to allow Ethiopian coffee farmers to find their way out of
poverty instead of continuing to stand in their way.” |
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