Coffee Wars: Ethiopia Vs. Starbucks April 3, 2007
Posted by publicpolitics in Uncategorized.1 comment so far
The Ethiopian government filed patent applications in 2005 to trademark the names of their world-famous coffee, and this week Ethiopia announced it would issue invitations to build a distribution network of distributors and promoters. The government claims that having the trademark will allow groups of growers to negotiate with buyers directly. Starbucks has been enthusiastically trying to hold on to the right to bargain with individual farmers. The combination trademark/union Ethiopian plan could change the way many commodity producers, some of the poorest people in the world, do business:
Ethiopia is looking to trademark coffees in the EU to benefit its poor farmers, in the face of opposition from Starbucks in the U.S.
The Ethiopian move provides lessons for an African market that could be worth billions of dollars.
Tags: Trademark | opposition | Looking | farmers | Benefit | Yirgacheffe | Starbucks | sidamo | Politics | Japan | harar | ethiopian | ethiopia | coffee | Canada | brings | Aroma
