Starbucks embroiled in Ethiopia coffee row

THE Ethiopian Government and Starbucks have become embroiled in a spat over whether the coffee names Yirgacheffe, Sidamo and Harar belong to the African nation.

Ethiopia wants the coffee company to sign a voluntary licensing agreement saying the country owns the rights to the coffee names.

Seattle-based Starbucks said that it wanted instead to work with the country to establish a geographic certification for the coffee bean names.