Elephantstrunk

Fairtrade coffee probably wouldn’t exist in an ideal world and neither its results nor its implementation are ideal. It would be much better not to have to choose coffee on any criteria but price and taste but alternative routes to development for coffee growers have had plenty of time to work and failed to deliver. Is this BBC report showing something out of the ordinary or business as usual?

US coffee chain Starbucks is denying Ethiopia earnings of £47m ($88m) a year, according to Oxfam.

The UK charity says Starbucks asked the National Coffee Association (NCA) to block the country’s bid to trademark three types of coffee bean in the US.

Oxfam says poor farmers would have benefited from the move but the NCA says there is no economic case to support the charity’s claims.

Starbucks denies initiating opposition to the trademark application.

Even if Starbucks is not responsible, how can Ethiopia capitalise on the quality of its product?