Link to this page: http://www.socialistparty.org.uk/issue/461/1690
From The Socialist newspaper, 2 November 2006
Big Bucks for Starbucks - nothing for small farmers
GLOBAL COFFEE chain Starbucks is the McDonalds of the coffee world with hundreds of shops throughout Britain and the world. Its annual revenue is £3.2 billion. This wealthy giant opposes a plan by Ethiopia, one of the world's poorest countries, to gain more control over its coffee trade and a larger share of the earnings for millions of poverty-stricken coffee farmers.
Last year the Ethiopian government applied to trademark its best-known coffee names. That would enable Ethiopia to control their use in the market and help farmers receive a bigger share of the retail price. Ethiopia's coffee industry and farmers could earn around £88 million extra per year.
Starbucks filed protests against these trademark applications with the US Patent and Trademark Office which denied these applications, creating serious obstacles for Ethiopia.
In the global coffee market, profit is king. For every £1 people spend in a Starbucks or other coffee house only 5p gets into the small farmers' hands. A few big multinationals exploit around 25 million small farmers while the terms of trade have fluctuated wildly and in fact got steadily worse since the IMF forcibly deregulated the market in recent decades.
Fear of egg on their smug corporate faces may force Starbucks to act more 'ethically'. However, nothing short of a socialist transformation is going to give the farmers and workers more permanent assistance.
Keith White
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In The Socialist 2 November 2006:
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Socialist Students
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International socialist news and analysis
Mexico: Police and army attack Oaxaca rebellion
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Cyprus: Fight for Kurdish asylum rights
Big Bucks for Starbucks - nothing for small farmers
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Hungary 1956: When workers rose in their millions
The Socialist Interview
Crime and punishment - the prison officers' view
Workplace analysis
Building a national shop stewards' network
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