Ethiopia’s Dictator Revokes Coffee Licenses of Major Exporters
Ethiopia’s dictator revokes coffee licenses of major exporters
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (APA) – Ethiopia’s dictatorial regime led by accused war criminal Meles Zenawi on Wednesday revoked the coffee export licenses for six major export companies and shut down another 88 coffee supplier unions with warehouses stocked with coffee.
The decision was made after the government accused a number of exporters and coffee suppliers of hoarding.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development also revoked the international coffee standard certification for the six companies.
“These companies cause big economic damage to the country which has resulted in the decline of the country’s coffee earnings this year,” said the ministry.
The major exporters of Ethiopian coffee affected by the decision are Mulege, S. Sara, Legesse Sherefa and Kemal Abdela.
The dispute between the government and the coffee exporters started when Ethiopia introduced last year a new electronic commodity exchange.
The Ethiopian Commodity Exchange was set up to replace a murky auction system that was often abused by market players.
Some exporters have been reluctant to sell their beans through the country\’s new electronic commodity exchange which began trading in December, Prime Minister Meles Zenawi told parliament last week where he urged the exporters to immediately start selling their stocks. The ministry accused the exporters and coffee suppliers union of creating the coffee shortage in the local market, resulting in price increase in the country in the past few weeks.
Coffee accounted for about 60 percent of Ethiopia’s foreign exchange revenue in the 2007/2008 season when Ethiopia earned more than $525 million from exporting 170,888 tones of Arabica coffee.
Ethiopia, the birth place of coffee, is Africa\’s biggest coffee producer.
Some 15 million smallholder farmers grow coffee in Ethiopia, mostly in the misty forested highlands of its western and southwestern regions.
COFFEE-TRADE SWITCH IN ETHIOPIA DISAPPOINTS IMPORTERS
U.S. coffee importers and roasters are worried that a new auction system in Ethiopia makes it almost impossible for them to buy coffee from the particular farmers whose beans they want.
Seattle Times business reporter
U.S. coffee importers and roasters are worried that a new auction system in Ethiopia makes it almost impossible for them to buy coffee from the particular farmers whose beans they want.
The system, overseen by the Ethiopia Commodity Exchange, mixes coffee beans from different growers before selling them for export.
That’s a big deal to specialty roasters who prefer beans from certain growers and processors, and sometimes have worked with them to improve quality.
During a visit to the Ethiopian exchange in February, one Seattle coffee importer became concerned about how the new system would work.
“We spent a whole day going through the phases of grief — anger, denial and acceptance — just trying to get our arms around what’s going on,” said Craig Holt, owner of Atlas Coffee Importers.
The new auction system and its implications are poorly understood, Holt and others said.
What they know for sure is that they’re unable to order many of the coffees they want.
Some have had trouble getting any coffee from Ethiopia, although it is not clear whether the new auction system is to blame.
Royal Coffee, an importer based in Oakland, Calif., has not received shipments from Ethiopia that ordinarily would have arrived by now.
“There seems to be a wrench in the gears,” president Robert Fulmer wrote on the company’s blog. “To say there is confusion and chaos in Ethiopia is an understatement.”
Last week, Ethiopia closed the warehouses of six of its largest exporters, accusing them of hoarding coffee and contributing to a shortage of foreign currency.
Bloomberg reported on Thursday that the government plans to start exporting beans itself.
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The changes haven’t affected Starbucks, a spokeswoman said. The company buys coffee through the exchange and from cooperative unions and estates, which are allowed to sell directly.
The U.S. imports 12 to 15 million pounds of Ethiopian coffee annually, less than 5 percent of that nation’s total coffee exports. Japan is the largest importer of Ethiopian coffee, taking about 66 million pounds a year, according to the Specialty Coffee Association of America.
Ethiopia’s new exchange estimates that specialty coffee, which is high-end coffee for which consumers pay a premium, represents about 3.7 percent of its coffee exports. Specialty coffee includes coffee bought by importers and roasters who have relationships with certain coffee growers.
The exchange said in a December paper on specialty coffee that it can hone its contract specifications to reflect geographic criteria and other refinements. For further traceability, “the direct channel by which growers can directly export coffee can be used,” the paper said.
Victrola Coffee Roasters in Seattle is among those counting on it.
Coffee buyer and head roaster Perry Hook is excited about a shipment of 2008 Ethiopia Natural Yirgacheffe Beloya beans that he just bought from the importer Ninety Plus Coffee.
He doesn’t have much hope of getting anything so specialized from this year’s crop.
“We’ll still buy Ethiopian coffee, because they have some of the best coffee in the world,” Hook said. “It’s the specialty ones that can be tied back to specific producing areas and handled in specific ways that we’re not going to get [this year]. We’re just going to hope something happens down the road and that in 2010 we can get these kinds of coffee again.”
Melissa Allison: 206-464-3312 or mallison@seattletimes.com
Am I Addicted?
Just Eat The Beans
Am I addicted to coffee? I like to call it passionate. Here I am, no coffee, constantly thinking of it…My body already going through sleepy spells and body aches – Am I REALLY addicted to caffeine, NOT coffee?? Constantly fiddling and knocking things over like a helpless drunk, going cold turkey is NOT how to pull yourself off of the coffee habit. Actually, I don’t intend to stop at all, I JUST ACCIDENTALLY LEFT MY COFFEE HOME, and I REFUSE to drink “office coffee.” So for the next hour and a half I will just keep up with the random arm scratches, neck twitches, back spasms, and completely crazy daydreams that remind me I’ve slipped into a work coma until I make it to my front door, and the hero’s theme music begins to play. Yes I will sprint to my kitchen cupboards (read below), rip the package of coffee open, and relentlessly chew those coffee beans! Yes I said chew, no time for brewing.
I am not addicted…I am passionately crazy about coffee.
Morning Devoid of Coffee…
So last Friday I was trying to stray away from overloading on coffee. This morning I grabbed my 3 cup french press, packed my lunch and was so excited…until I got to work. I left my fresh roasted Yemeni coffee home!!!! Now the question is do I break down and have “break room” coffee, or do I wait for that glorious moment this afternoon, when I break through the front door of my house, sprint to the kitchen, grind my coffee, and sip up?
I think I will wait…maybe I’ll play theme music just before I bust down the door.
