ETHIOPIA: Entrepreneur in Ethiopia pits a tiny coffee shop in the home of coffee against the world's largest coffee retailer

Record ID: 454941

  • Title: ETHIOPIA: Entrepreneur in Ethiopia pits a tiny coffee shop in the home of coffee against the world's largest coffee retailer
  • Date: 17th April 2007
  • Summary: (AD1) MEKELE, NORTHERN ETHIOPIA (RECENT) (REUTERS) MEN OUTSIDE "STARBUCKS" COFFEE SHOP DRINKING COFFEE SIGN SAYING "STARBUCKS COFFEE"
  • Embargoed: 2nd May 2007 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Ethiopia
  • Country: Ethiopia
  • Topics: Industry
  • Reuters ID: LVA2MT26XAB8J3K7V9J3T1JLDGBY
  • Story Text: An entrepreneur in a northern Ethiopian town is using the name of US coffee shop giant Starbucks to attract a wider rage of clients - but does not think he will attract the ire of the world's largest coffee retailer. A high-profile dispute between Ethiopia and US coffee shop giant Starbucks gave small businessman Ambes Tewelde an idea that has led to a roaring trade selling some 400 cups a day of fine Ethiopian coffee -- he decided to name his now perpetually packed coffee-shop, Starbucks.
    In Tewelde's shop, coffee is prepared in a traditional coffee ceremony by women who first offer the aromatic beans to customers to smell, before the coffee is drunk.
    Tewelde says an Ethiopian friend in Atlanta, USA, suggested the name. He is not concerned about his use of the Starbucks name, admitting that the name belongs to the US-based multi-national, but saying he will give it up if they ask him.
    "Actually, the original names Starbucks, it is their name and immediately I will cut it. But they are not here, actually, they are not in Ethiopia. So actually, I sell for them. But they not give me anything. Actually, in the first place, the name Starbucks is not known here. When I change the name from Central to Starbucks, many people wondered what does Starbucks mean?" says Tewelde.
    Proud of the big hand-painted "Starbucks" sign over the door, and even displaying his own version of the famous logo with a picture of his baby son superimposed, Ambes does not fear a visit from the company's lawyers.
    He says that if asked, he would be happy to open a Starbucks franchise.
    "Those foreigners feel at home. They see its Starbucks and they take photos and they come inside. They feel at home," says Tewelde.
    Tewelde and his customers in the town of Mekele -- capital of northern Tigray province where the coffee-drinking ceremony is an essential part of local culture -- have little sympathy, however, for their US namesake in its trademark row.
    The Seattle-based coffee retailer is accused of blocking a bid by Ethiopia to trademark its top-notch Sidamo and Harar coffees, thus denying farmers potential extra income of 90 million US dollars a year.
    In a reminder of Ethiopia's pre-eminent place in the history of coffee, drawings inside the shop tell the story of how centuries ago a local herder saw his goats "frolicking" over-excitedly after eating a bean from a local plant.
    According to legend, the curious herder took the bean to a local monk, who boiled it up and found it to have a similarly stimulating effect. Thus was coffee discovered.
    Starbucks says it is in talks with Addis Ababa, and is helping local farmers in Ethiopia and across the region with numerous assistance programmes.
    Ethiopia is said to be the legendary birthplace of coffee. Up in the Ethiopian hills, coffee has always grown wild and the bean is believed to have first been recognised for its properties as a stimulant in this area.
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