Stir Starbucks

"At Starbucks, our commitment to pay premium prices for premium quality coffee has not wavered over the years," said Dub Hay, senior vice president, Coffee. "It's an approach that not only serves the short- and long-term economic interests of coffee farmers and suppliers; it also serves our needs by creating an incentive for farmers to improve quality and increase production. That, in turn, contributes to a more sustainable supply of the high-quality coffee we depend on to support our continued growth."

Starbucks developed C.A.F.E. Practices (Coffee and Farmer Equity Practices) in partnership with Conservation International and Scientific Certification Systems to provide incentives for coffee to be cultivated and processed in a sustainable manner.

Beyond paying premium prices for premium quality coffee, coffee purchased under C.A.F.E. Practices guidelines meets criteria around social responsibility in the farming community, economic transparency to help ensure equitable payment to farmers for their crops, and environmental leadership.

"C.A.F.E. Practices provides an opportunity to coffee suppliers around the world to assess their socio-economic and environmental standards while marketing their crop in a profitable and transparent supply-chain," said Eduardo A. Esteve, managing director, Agroindustrias Unidas de Mexico, S.A. de C.V. "As a farmer, every point gained in C.A.F.E. Practices is translated into more competitiveness. I have no doubt it has helped me become a better employer making my farm, Guadalupe Zaju, a farm that can attract field workers."

In addition to C.A.F.E. Practices-approved coffee, Starbucks purchased coffee in fiscal year 2006 through other responsible environmental or economic certification efforts. These included conservation (shade grown) coffee (two million pounds or one percent of Starbucks total coffee purchases), certified organic coffees (12 million pounds or four percent of Starbucks total coffee purchases), and Fair Trade Certified(TM) coffee (18 million pounds or six percent of Starbucks total coffee purchases). Starbucks remains one of the largest purchasers, roasters and distributors of Fair Trade Certified(TM) coffee in North America.

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Menwhile in UK

Starbucks, the US coffee giant, yesterday hit back at critics who have accused it of not doing enough to help coffee growers in poor countries.

The group said it had sharply increased the average price it paid for its coffee last year. But it acknowledged it had not reached any agreement with Ethiopia over a trademark dispute which has prompted thousands of people around the world to write in protest to the company's chief executive, Jim Donald.

Starbucks said it had raised the average price it paid for coffee in its fiscal year to last October to $1.42 (72p) a pound, 37% above the industry coffee price over the period and 11% more than it had paid in 2005.

It also said it had doubled to 155m lbs the amount of coffee it bought through the independently verified coffee sourcing and purchasing guidelines known as CAFE. This type of coffee now accounts for 53% of all the company's coffee.

The company's coffee bill was about $426m last year. Over the same period the its revenues surged 22% to $7.8bn.

"We are passionate about coffee but we are also passionate about the wider coffee-growing community and the leadership role we play," said Alain Poncelet, managing director of Starbucks Coffee Trading Company, which buys the company's coffee from 26 countries.

Mr Poncelet told the Guardian he thought the new price Starbucks was paying was the highest it had ever paid.

Starbucks has been stung by accusations from the charity Oxfam and the Ethiopian government late last year that it was indirectly blocking an attempt by the impoverished African nation to register the trademarks of its key coffee brands in the US. Around 90,000 people have written to Mr Donald to complain as a result of Oxfam's campaign.

Starbucks has recently put out a video on the website YouTube in which it says it would be illegal for the Ethiopians to trademark their beans Sidamo and Harar in the US since they are geographical regions which cannot be trademarked there. But that is disputed by trademark lawyers.

Mr Poncelet said he would hold further talks with the Ethiopian government in Addis Ababa next month but would not outline what any deal might be. Similar talks in November did not lead to a deal. "Our goal is to reward Ethiopian coffee farmers for the great coffee they produce," he said. He would not say how much money Starbucks spent in Ethiopia but its coffee represented only about 2% of the company's purchases.

Phil Bloomer, director of campaigns at Oxfam, said he recognised the efforts Starbucks had made in ensuring an increasing ethical commitment in its purchasing.

"But this latest PR offensive merely skirts around the real issue. Trademarking coffee names would help level the playing field in international trade and allow coffee farmers to trade on more equal terms with their suppliers.

"Starbucks ... has tied the hands of Ethiopian farmers who produce world-famous coffees, but who are prevented from taking full advantage of this to help work themselves out of poverty."

Ron Layton, head of Light Years IP, a Washington-based intellectual property rights organisation advising the Ethiopian government, said Ethiopia had already trademarked Yergacheffe coffee in the US and there was no legal reason it should not be able to trademark Sidamo and Harar.

"Currently they are able to get maybe $1.42 a pound for their coffee when Starbucks sells it for up to $26 a pound."

business.guardian.co.uk