Starbucks Executive Vice President Michelle Burns is currently visiting Ethiopia to explore opportunities in the country’s coffee industry. The trip, focusing on ethical sourcing and community development, has sparked renewed scrutiny of Starbucks’ controversial history with Ethiopian coffee trademarks.
Ethiopia, the birthplace of coffee, has fought for years to trademark its renowned coffee varieties—Sidamo, Harar, and Yirgacheffe. These trademarks aim to boost export revenues and provide better financial returns for local farmers. However, 2006 data obtained by The Wall Africa Journal revealed that Starbucks sought to copyright these names, effectively blocking Ethiopia’s applications. The move reportedly cost Ethiopia up to £47 million ($60 million) annually in potential earnings and reduced its ability to capture the coffee’s full retail value.
Critics, including advocacy groups like Oxfam, accuse Starbucks of undermining Ethiopia’s efforts to assert control over its coffee heritage. While Starbucks claims to have increased its purchases of Ethiopian beans by 400% over four years and pays above-market prices, local farmers remain in poverty, earning only a small fraction of the final retail price.
Burns’ visit, welcomed by U.S. officials, aims to strengthen Starbucks’ partnerships in Ethiopia through initiatives such as clean water access and productivity improvements. However, many view these steps as insufficient to address the historical economic damage caused by Starbucks’ earlier actions.
As Ethiopia continues to push for greater control over its coffee trademarks, the visit highlights unresolved tensions between the country’s fight for economic sovereignty and the global coffee industry’s profit-driven practices. Critics are now calling on Starbucks to take meaningful steps to rectify past controversies and support Ethiopian farmers in a way that ensures long-term sustainability and fairness.