Africa News reports today that Starbucks Chairman Howard Schultz is in Africa recognizing the company’s settlement with Ethiopian coffee farmers over the rights to three coffee names: SIDAMO, HARAR, and YIRGACHEFFE. In the last few months, STL has discussed the settlement here and here.
Mr. Schultz summarized the dispute by saying: “The Ethiopian government wanted to potentially trade mark pieces of geography that stand for where the coffee is from, whether it is Harar or Sidamo or any other place and that is their privilege and their right. Starbucks as a company, we can’t tell any government what to do or what not to do, we are just customers.”
Downplaying the controversy, he added: “The issue of the trademark was never as contentious as it was reported.”
In the end, he said it made sense for Starbucks to align itself with Ethiopian farmers to promote sustainability and high quality coffee. For that, he said, Starbucks was willing to pay a premium.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi agreed that ”[a]ll of the disagreements are behind us now….”
He said Mr. Schultz made an “unprecedented decision in favoring our coffee farmers by recognizing their property rights. It has never [been] done before for any other product from a country such as Ethiopia.”
The Seattle Times has more on Mr. Schultz’s visit here.