Starbucks rips off Ethiopia

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hollister93257

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Apr 8, 2008
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/frontpage/story/0,,1931675,00.html

Oxfam has accused Starbucks of being behind the US National Coffee Association's attempt to block Ethiopia's bid to trademark two coffee types, Sidamo and Harare, thus denying farmers about 50million quid in revenue.

Ethiopian farmers get between 30p and 59p for a crop. Coffee shops get revenues of about 32 quid per kilo for the cups of Sidamo and Harare they sell.

Good old big business.

Gotta love it haven't you.

Yet another company to add to the boycott list
 
I think in terms of coffee trade and fair trade practices this is pretty much just the tip of the iceberg.

It's a well known fact that the coffee growers are the lowest on the totem pole.
Traditionally coffee farmers have always been at the mercy of the buyers and of course farmers are always at the mercy of the weather and risks like diseases for coffee plants.

I'll have to do a bit of checking but if I remember correctly there are trade laws set up by the United States (and others) that stipulate that coffee growing countries are not allowed to sell anything more than a raw product... eg. unprocessed coffee beans.

Even in todays world I don't believe there are any growers that even process or roast their own coffee beans. The equipment is far beyond the meager financial means of most coffee growers.

So while the rest of the world likes the quaint notion of Juan Valdez - the likeable old ethnic guy who grows the coffee and takes his time picking it in his white cotton pants, broad brimmed hat and huaraches.... the reality is that most of them are living at poverty level very much at the mercy of trade laws imposed that favor western countries.

I'll see what I can find on this. It's been a while since I did much reading on it but I've got several texts about the specifics of coffee production so I'll see what I can find.
 
Starbucks have always been on my boycott list, purely for being so bloody pretentious.

Barristas. Really.
 
Starbucks is way too Metro for me! I brew my own coffee at home and carry it with me. Yes, I drink and drive. I have been trained to drink coffee and eat donuts while driving a motor vehicle! FEAR ME!
 
Actually they aren't communist's at all.
They are however run by someone who is very pro Israel.
Depending on how your politics swing.. it's something to consider when making your buying decisions.

Here is a link to some info (admittedly not the most unbiased) and if I remember correctly... posted here before on a rather heated thread about Israel.

http://www.inminds.co.uk/boycott-starbucks.html
 
A tidbit regarding the cost's involved in a cup of coffee reaching the actual end consumer.:


source: Wikipedia

Here is a PDF file on the benefits of fair trade towards the alleviation of poverty done by the Colorado State University et. al.

http://www.colostate.edu/Depts/Sociology/FairTradeResearchGroup/doc/fairtrade.pdf
 
I'd need a whole pot of coffee to sit down and read that boring stuff. Just the table of contents sent me back to my Macro Economics class!
 
Sort of defeats the purpose then eh?

Yeah it really depends on how much you are into coffee. Most people will hear something about a boycott or such and such - but most never really take the time to dig deeper on the issue. It's hard to blame them though... trade law isn't isn't the most exciting subject in the world.
 
Another caraf of joe please! Ugh! I had enough time in the law library in college to become an expert! Economics and Law are 2 of the most dry subjects I had to take. My brain hurts just thinking of all the time I spent trying to wrap my head around injecting $1.00 into the monetary system and use the Kaynesian Stair-step method to show what the result would be! Huh? Now throw dry Trade Law into the mix and my brain shorts out!
 
If you ask for fair trade coffee in Starbucks in UK you pay an extra 35p if you go to Costa's Coffee you get it fair trade for nothing if you ask. If you are concerned ask for fair trade coffee. I think it is up to the individual to make their own choices. The history of marxist government and civil war* alongside outdated farming practices in Ethiopia have both contributed to the sorry state of the country's economy.

From the article
"Starbucks, whose annual turnover is equivalent to about three quarters of Ethiopia's entire gross domestic product, said in a statement it had never "filed an opposition to the Ethiopian government's trademark application".".

*money from honest well meaning people at live aid etc. in the 80s enabled the commie scum running the country at the time to build up the highest number of soldiers per head of population in Africa at the time.
 
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