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Tell Starbucks to Honor Their Commitments to Coffee Farmers

Target: Jim Donald, Starbucks CEO
Sponsored by: Oxfam America

Each year, coffee companies make billions of dollars. Starbucks alone earned almost $5.8 billion in net revenues during the first three quarters of 2006.

Yet, for every cup of coffee Starbucks sells, poor farmers in coffee-growing countries like Ethiopia earn only about $.03. Even worse, while Ethiopian farmers grow some of the finest name-brand coffees in the world think Harar, Yirgacheffe, and Sidamo they don't see the premium profits those names command among consumers.

With as many as 15 million Ethiopians dependent on coffee, Ethiopia wants to get its farmers more of what they deserve. The country's government has asked Starbucks to sign a licensing agreement that will allow Ethiopia to control the names of its coffee. That way, Ethiopia can help determine an export price that makes sure farmers see a larger share of the profits enabling them to feed their children, send them to school and get them better healthcare.

Ask Starbucks to sign the agreement giving Ethiopian farmers their fair share of coffee profits.

deadline: 10-25-2007
goal: 10,000

22,098
signatures!

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This petition is now closed. Success! Starbucks and Ethiopia have finalized an agreement that ends their trademark dispute and brings both sides together in partnership to help Ethiopian farmers. This agreement has the potential to give these farmers a fair share of the profits for their world-renowned coffees. Congratulations! Keep up the good work!

Dear Jim Donald:

As a Starbucks customer, I'm concerned about your opposition to Ethiopia's right to own its coffee names. I am asking Starbucks to honor its commitment to farmers by signing an agreement with Ethiopia that recognizes the country's rights to the names of its coffees. If Starbucks and other companies sign such agreements, estimates suggest that Ethiopian's could see up to $88 million of extra income a year.

[Your comment]

Ethiopia ranks among the poorest countries in the world; more than 75 percent of its population lives on less than $1 per day. About 15 million people in Ethiopia depend on coffee to make a living, the majority of them growing their crop on small plots of about two and a half acres.

Meanwhile, coffee lovers pay up to $26 per pound for fine Ethiopian coffees because they're willing to pay for high quality and great taste. Ethiopian farmers, however, often earn just 5-10 percent of the retail value.

With this disparity in mind, the Ethiopian government launched a project to get legal ownership of its fine coffee names-Sidamo, Yirgacheffe, and Harar. By owning the names, Ethiopia will be able to occupy a stronger negotiating position with foreign buyers, capture a larger share of the market value associated with those names, and protect the reputations of its brand names. In a country with a per capita income of around $100 per year, that amount of money could have a profound impact on the lives of millions of Ethiopians.

As you know, Ethiopia approached Starbucks more than a year ago asking the company to lead by example and to discuss an agreement that would acknowledge Ethiopia's ownership of these names. So far, Starbucks has refused to sign the agreement, or even talk seriously about it with the Ethiopian government.

I want to see Starbucks do the right thing by the poor farmers who grow its coffee. I urge you to sign the licensing agreement and recognize Ethiopia's rightful ownership of its coffee names.

Sincerely,

[Your name]
[Address]

We signed the “Tell Starbucks to Honor Their Commitments to Coffee Farmers” petition!

# 300:

11:07 am PDT, Oct 27, Name not displayed, North Carolina
You certainly do not need to increase the price of a cup of coffee in order to pay a fair share either. Those people need to eat. Feel ashamed when they are not paid enough to do that!

# 299:

11:06 am PDT, Oct 27, Catherine Buchanan, Ohio
"Starbucks strongly believes in the importance of building mutually-beneficial relationships with coffee farmers and coffee communities with which we work." Live up to your slogan, you hypocrite! Stop exploiting people just because you have the ability to say "Well, if it weren't for the 3 cents, they wouldn't be making anything at all" is not a justifiable reason to deliberately and severely exploit people!!!

# 298:

11:06 am PDT, Oct 27, Tami Palacky, Virginia

# 297:

11:06 am PDT, Oct 27, Karly Gray, Texas
Now that your greedy little secret is out, are you going to give out fair earnings to the "coffee farmers" now? My daughter, nor myself will be purchasing Starbucks again.

# 296:

11:06 am PDT, Oct 27, Lee Eaton, Louisiana

# 295:

11:06 am PDT, Oct 27, Karen Connelly, Tennessee

# 294:

11:06 am PDT, Oct 27, Jennifer Rodriguez, Texas

# 293:

11:06 am PDT, Oct 27, Name not displayed, United Kingdom
as if you need to be told.

# 292:

11:05 am PDT, Oct 27, Ken Pullen, Ohio
Again incredible hypocrisy on display. Starbucks CEO and all their employees play up and live and breath this "Starbucks culture," with its peace, love, and understanding roots, and they present a public persona and image, yet they are in reality no different than John D. Rockefeller at the beginning of the 20th Century amassing an ungodly fortune from the backbreaking sweat and toil of overworked and underpaid people. I have not bought a cup of anything at Starbucks for over 3 years and don't intend to. Why? Because I was aware of their lies and explotations long before this petition came along. Starbucks is a sham and a scam. Pretending to be one thing...when in reality all that matters is the amasing of personal wealth at the expense of human beings being exploted and kept dirt poor. Want to live your pretend 2 dimensional corporate culture? Then begin to share the wealth. Everyone reading this should boycott Starbucks until they can be assured they are being fair, just, honest, and truthful, and sharing their obscene profits with those that make their obscene profits possible in the first place.

# 291:

11:05 am PDT, Oct 27, Michael Schur, New York

# 290:

11:05 am PDT, Oct 27, Name not displayed, New York

# 289:

11:05 am PDT, Oct 27, Katherine Riemer, California

# 288:

11:05 am PDT, Oct 27, Andrea Taylor, Pennsylvania
Please provide the Ethiopian farmers that supply your coffee beans a fair share of the profits. They do not want the extra money for luxuries, but rather some food and clothes for their children. A $3.25 iced pumpkin spice latte is a luxury for me, but that kind of money to them would help to sustain and ultimately improve their lives. Please share your good fortune and give the farmers more money! Your karma will thank you for it!

# 287:

11:05 am PDT, Oct 27, Myra Binstock, New Jersey
As a loyal customer of Starbucks, I implore you to pass your profits on to the folks who have made your wealth possible, the poor Ethiopian farmers. Let's all do our share, as citizens of the world, to make sure that our good fortune in the US goes back, in proportion, to the people whose hard work has made our standard of living possible. Please honor your commitments to coffee farmers. Myra Binstock

# 286:

11:05 am PDT, Oct 27, Stanley Slater, Utah

# 285:

11:05 am PDT, Oct 27, Dorothy Townsend-Tyers, Washington

# 284:

11:05 am PDT, Oct 27, Gina Chappa, Oregon
I am a StarBucks junkie...I buy coffee drinks and buy their coffee for home use. I will stop using Starbucks unless they live up to their humanitarian motto.Ethiopia deserves fair trade!

# 283:

11:04 am PDT, Oct 27, Julie Boerner, Oklahoma

# 282:

11:04 am PDT, Oct 27, Name not displayed, North Carolina
If these accusations are true, can't you find it in your heart to give more to these people that have worked hard to give you a success that years ago was never even consider where coffee is concerned.

# 281:

11:04 am PDT, Oct 27, Donnal Poppe, California
Give these poor farmers their fair share.

# 280:

11:04 am PDT, Oct 27, Ueli Stadler, Oregon
everybody ought to get a fair day's wages for a good day's labor. A living wage is a basic human right.

# 279:

11:04 am PDT, Oct 27, Maya Zuckerman, California

# 278:

11:04 am PDT, Oct 27, Name not displayed, North Carolina

# 277:

11:04 am PDT, Oct 27, Nathaniel Chan, New York

# 276:

11:04 am PDT, Oct 27, John Williams, California
i will also boycott starbucks and seattle's best

# 275:

11:04 am PDT, Oct 27, Fran Parkinson, Minnesota

# 274:

11:04 am PDT, Oct 27, VICKI EDWARDS, Kentucky

# 273:

11:04 am PDT, Oct 27, D. Beliso, California
do this or i'll stop buying your product.

# 272:

11:03 am PDT, Oct 27, Christopher Chan, New York

# 271:

11:03 am PDT, Oct 27, Mary Almendarez, Texas

# 270:

11:03 am PDT, Oct 27, Christine Maloney, Michigan

# 269:

11:03 am PDT, Oct 27, Name not displayed, Kentucky

# 268:

11:03 am PDT, Oct 27, Name not displayed, Rhode Island

# 267:

11:03 am PDT, Oct 27, Deborah J Simone, Florida

# 266:

11:03 am PDT, Oct 27, Stephen Kramer, Ohio

# 265:

11:03 am PDT, Oct 27, Name not displayed, Pennsylvania

# 264:

11:03 am PDT, Oct 27, Marthe Dowd, California
I agree with what Krystina Bair from Washington says: "It's time to make ALL the coffee you sell "fair trade." This insures a fair price to the farmers that grew it. While you're at it, how about making all your coffee shade-grown (helps preserve bird species) and organic (no pesticides, herbicides, etc.)??? Starbucks, as one of the largest companies in the world, has a moral & ethical duty to be responsible for the impacts it creates!"

# 263:

11:03 am PDT, Oct 27, Brent Riggs, California

# 262:

11:03 am PDT, Oct 27, Mary Jo Hostnik, Ohio
I love Starbucks Coffee, but I won't be purchasing any more until Starbucks signs this agreement. I will also urge all my friends and family to do the same.

# 261:

11:03 am PDT, Oct 27, Bonnie A Connell, Florida

# 260:

11:03 am PDT, Oct 27, Margaret Roderick, Ohio
Come on now folks, I did a paper for a class last Spring and cited Starbuck's contribution to the poor farmer. I don't like being duped. Another thing, one of the reasons I can buy your coffee and feel good about paying so much for it is because I thought I was contributing to the betterment of the poor farmer. If this is not the case, then I will not be able to rationalize the expenditure.

# 259:

11:03 am PDT, Oct 27, Jodi Mccaslin, North Carolina

# 258:

11:03 am PDT, Oct 27, Ted Donlan, North Carolina
A boycott campaign's been started. Please boycott Starbucks.

# 257:

11:02 am PDT, Oct 27, Michael A. Rhodes, West Virginia

# 256:

11:02 am PDT, Oct 27, Norma Murphy, California
While I very much enjoy Starbuck's coffee and stop several times a week, I can learn to live without it if I am convinced that Starbuck's is not doing the right thing by their growers. With the profits that Starbuck's is making, it surely must have some compassion for the people who are making it all possible.

# 255:

11:02 am PDT, Oct 27, CHarity Dennington, Arkansas

# 254:

11:02 am PDT, Oct 27, Edward Pierce, New York

# 253:

11:02 am PDT, Oct 27, Bruce A. Carroll, Missouri
Fair is fair. Pay the Ethiops their due.

# 252:

11:02 am PDT, Oct 27, Name not displayed, Arizona

# 251:

11:02 am PDT, Oct 27, James Richardson, Oregon

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