Starbucks embroiled in Ethiopia coffee row
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.
Although US consumers can pay dearly for exotic coffees from Africa and elsewhere, impoverished farmers can struggle to eke out a living growing the beans that are eventually sold at Starbucks and other stores.
However, Starbucks says it pays above-average prices for its beans and has programmes in place that aim to help farmers.
Ron Layton, president of Light Years IP, which is advising the Ethiopian Government on the matter, said the African nation does not want to charge a flat fee as part of the licensing agreement. But he said the long-term plan would be to establish the brand and then use that leverage to gradually boost the prices companies like Starbucks pay for those coffees.
Ethiopia is simultaneously trying to secure the rights to the three coffee names via the US Patent and Trademark Office.
The country has succeeded in its attempt to trademark the name Yirgacheffe, but a final decision has not been made on the other two.
The National Coffee Association of USA (NCA), of which Starbucks is a member, has filed protests arguing that the names are generic.
NCA president Robert Nelson said he thinks trademarking the coffee names could hurt farmers economically, as coffee shops may be less likely to buy those types of coffees for fear that advertising the names would provoke legal action.
Sean O’Connor, an associate professor of law at the University of Washington, said he thinks it would be costly and difficult for Ethiopia to maintain the trademarks on the coffee types, if it received them. He said the country would have to show it was constantly trying to enforce the trademarks or it could risk losing them.
Also, he said, just getting a trademark would not guarantee that the country could demand higher prices.
Mr O’Connor said it might make more sense to seek geographic certification, like wine growers in France have done with the word “champagne”.
Phil Bloomer, director of policy at Oxfam, said: “Starbucks has made some progress towards helping poor farmers in recent years, but their behaviour on this occasion is a huge backwards step, and raises serious questions about the depth of their commitment to the welfare of their suppliers.”
Fitsum Hailu, of the Ethiopian Embassy in Washington said: “Struggling Ethiopian coffee farmers should be able to realise a greater portion of the value our coffee commands on the international market.”
