The Reporter (Addis Ababa)
By Kaleyesus Bekele
Executives of the US coffee company Starbucks are negotiating with Almeda Textile Factory to manufacture its black aprons here in Ethiopia. [Almeda is one of the many companies controlled by the ruling Tigrean People’s Liberation Front (Woyanne) under Sebhat Nega’s Endowment Fund for the Rehabilitation of Tigray. All the profits go to the Meles crime family.)
Starbucks black aprons are worn by approximately 27,000 coffee masters working in the company’s 15,000 coffee shops. Led by the chairman of the company, Howard Schultz, senior executives of Starbucks who this week came to Ethiopia agreed to buy the black aprons from Almeda. The executives disclosed their plan to promote Ethiopian garments in their stores. However, they declined to disclose the details of the negotiation with Ethiopian garment and apparel manufacturers. “We will not disclose the details until we sign a contract,” Dub Hay, senior vice president, said.
Howard Schultz, who for the first time came to Ethiopia, on Wednesday met Prime Minister Meles Zenawi and discussed ways to expand the branding and marketing of Ethiopia’s world renowned fine coffees in order to achieve better prices for farmers and improved opportunities for the millions of Ethiopians who depend on coffee for their livelihood.
At a joint press conference held on Wednesday, Schultz announced that the company will open a Starbucks Farmer Support Center in Addis Ababa in 2008. The facility, the first in Africa, is believed to enable Starbucks to work in collaboration with Ethiopian farmers to raise both the quality and production of the country’s high quality specialty coffees. “There was a disagreement with the company some months ago but all of that is behind us now,” Meles told journalists. Meles applauded Schultz for making a decision to recognize Ethiopian property rights over its coffee beans.
Earlier this year, Starbucks signed a distribution, marketing and licensing agreement with Ethiopia and has agreed to assist in expanding consumer awareness of Ethiopia’s famed coffee brands – Sidamo, Harrar and Yirga Cheffe.
Since its inception in 1971, Starbucks has been buying Ethiopian coffee. Annually, it buys over 2000 tonnes of Ethiopian coffee. In the past four years, Starbucks increased its Ethiopian coffee purchase by 400 percent. The company operates 15000 stores worldwide and employs 200,000 people. Its annual revenue is over six billion dollars.