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Dear Editor,
Mr. Shlomo Bachrach’s commentary last week
headlined, “The Starbucks Affair” [Volume 8, Number
375, July 8, 2007] contained numerous inaccuracies,
some of which warrant comment. Mr. Bachrach, whose
consultancy with Light Years IP ended in February
2007, has no firsthand knowledge of the negotiations
that paved the way for the agreement reached between
Ethiopia and Starbucks. His speculative remarks
about this process and its upshot were wildly off
the mark. What is more, his tendentious narrations
and gratuitous scepticism raise serious issues of
professional ethics.
Mr. Bachrach went so far as to cast doubt on the
very existence of a binding contract between
Starbucks and Ethiopia: “The announcement raises
some questions. It does not say, for example, that
an agreement was signed; only that it was
‘concluded.’ ” What motivates this line of
interrogation is altogether opaque. Nevertheless, we
are happy to oblige.
On June 20, 2007, representatives of the Government
of Ethiopia and Starbucks signed a distribution,
marketing and licensing agreement covering the
designations of three of Ethiopia’s finest heritage
coffees: Harar/Harrar, Sidamo and Yirgacheffe.
Ethiopians have every reason to take pride in the
agreement reached with the world’s foremost
specialty coffee company. It secures recognition of
Ethiopia’s rights over its fine coffees, not only in
countries where they are registered as trademarks,
but also in those where applications for
registration are still pending. The resultant
extraordinary level of global publicity and support
for Ethiopia has brought unprecedented recognition
of Ethiopia’s coffees and unique position in the
specialty market.
To cite just one example, Ethiopia has been invited
to submit a proposal to be a portrait country to be
showcased at the 2008 Specialty Coffee Association
of America conference.
To be sure, there is more to the Ethiopian Coffee
Trade Marking and Licensing Initiative than the
dialogue with Starbucks. Starbucks is now one of 20
or so leading and respected United State (US)
specialty coffee companies that have acknowledged
Ethiopia’s legal position, already having signed
legally binding agreements. All licensees are bound
by their agreements to promote Ethiopia’s fine
coffees. The details of the promotional agreements
are commercially sensitive and cannot be made
public. The licensees are, after all, in competition
with each other and to disclosing such information
would place them in a disadvantageous competitive
position.
Significantly, Ethiopia’s new partners are
developing promotion ideas for discussion with
Ethiopian counterparts and these new marketing
commitments are the result of Ethiopia’s success in
negotiation.
None of this is meant to lighten the challenges that
lie ahead. The conclusion of the agreement between
Ethiopia and Starbucks is the beginning of the real
work of redressing demand and supply side
impediments to improving the livelihood of coffee
growers and ensuring the bright future of Ethiopia’s
priceless fine coffees.
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