Starbucks: 'we got it wrong' in Ethiopia
Updated on 01 March 2007
Coffee giant talks exclusively to Channel 4 News about its row with Ethiopian growers.
For a company that built its brand on a promise to be ethical, this was the sort of publicity Starbucks could have done without.
But when it blocked Ethiopian farmers attempts trademark their coffee and get a higher price, the result was protests worldwide.
But last month - in a dramatic climbdown - Starbucks agreed to no longer stand in Ethiopia's way. In the first television interview Starbucks told Channel 4 News that its original position was wrong.
Starbucks may have recently taken the flak, but in fact it's a small player in the coffee market.
Despite the huge growth in coffee consumption, farmers get paid proportionately less per cup today than they did 20 years ago. Ethiopia's government says trademarking coffee is a way developing countires can get a fair price for their products in a globalised economy.
With ethical trading the new buzzwords in retail - it is no wonder Starbucks was so prepared to back down. And evidence suggests consumers are increasingly concerned with the ethical provenance of the food they buy.
Starbucks may have recently taken the flak, but in fact it's a small player in the coffee market.
The company buys just 2 per cent of the world's coffee - Proctor and Gamble has a 7 per cent share. So does Sara Lee - owners of brands like Douwe Egberts.
The biggest companies are Nestle with just under a quarter of the market and Altria - better known for its biggest brand Kraft.
These big players sell hardly any fairtrade coffee at all.
Kraft and Sara Lee sells none, choosing instead other certified schemes - while just 0.02% of Nestle's coffee is fair trade. Starbucks on the other hand, manages a relatively healthy 5 per cent
