Starbucks vs. Ethiopia

By Stephan Faris, Fortune

February 26 2007: 5:56 AM EST

The country that gave the world the coffee bean and the company that invented the $4 latte are fighting over a trademark, says Fortune's Stephan Faris.

一個是為世界生產咖啡豆的國家，一個是發明 4 美元一杯的拿鐵咖啡的公司，為爭奪一個商標，雙方展開激烈爭戰。

To produce a pound of organic sun-dried coffee, farmers in the southern Ethiopian village of Fero spread six pounds of ripe, red coffee cherries onto pallets near their fields. They sun the fruit for 15 days, stirring every few minutes to ensure uniform dryness, then shuck the shells.

埃塞俄比亞南部 Fero 村的咖啡農需要把 6 磅成熟紅咖啡果粒放在田邊的草墊上曬干，才能生產出一磅天然干咖啡。他們把咖啡果粒攤在太陽下曬 15 天，每隔幾分鐘就要翻動一次，以保證干度均勻，然后再剝去果殼。

Last season, that pound of coffee fetched farmers an average price of $1.45. Figuring in the cost of generator fuel, bank interest, labor and transport across Ethiopia's dusty roads, it netted them less than $1. In the U.S., however, that same pound of coffee commands a much higher price: $26 for a bag of Starbucks' roasted Shirkina Sun-Dried Sidamo.

在上個季度，對于這樣一磅咖啡，咖啡農平均只賣到 1.45 美元的價錢，再扣除電機燃料、銀行利息、勞務費和埃塞俄比亞土路運輸費等各項成本，每磅咖啡中咖啡農凈賺不到 1 美元。然而，在美國，同樣的一磅咖啡要價卻高得多: 一袋星巴克牌烘炒 Shirkina 曬干西達摩居然賣到 26 美元的高價。

The price differential, says Getachew Mengistie, head of Ethiopia's Intellectual Property Office, is evidence that his country has been unable to capitalize on what he calls its intellectual property. The Fero coffee is an extreme example, but it's not the only one. Ethiopia's specialty beans routinely retail abroad for three times the price of ordinary coffee.

埃塞俄比亞知識產權署總長格答喬•孟吉斯蒂（Getachew Mengistie）說，這個差價證明他的國家未能很好地利用其所說的知識產權。Fero 咖啡就是一個極端的例子，但不是唯一的例子。埃塞俄比亞的土產咖啡豆通常照例銷往海外，售價是普通咖啡的三倍。

Getachew, who like most Ethiopians goes by his given name, argues that if the higher rates were simply the product of investments in roasting, packaging or marketing, distributors could do the same with any coffee. Since they don't, he says, some of the extra value must originate where the beans are grown. "There is clearly an intangible value in the specialty coffee of Ethiopia," he says. "But it's not being captured here."

就像絕大多數埃塞俄比亞人一樣，格答喬使用教名相稱。他說，假如價格上漲僅僅只是在咖啡烘炒、包裝或營銷過程中投資的結果，那么，經銷商用任何一種咖啡都應能得到同樣的結果。他說，既然經銷商們做不到這一點，這就說明有一部分超價值肯定來源于咖啡豆的產地。他說: “很顯然，在埃塞俄比亞的土產咖啡中有某種無形價值，但埃塞俄比亞卻沒有拿到這部分無形價值。”

That observation put the country that is the birthplace of the coffee bean on a collision course with the company that gave the world the $4 latte. The conflict began in March 2005, when Ethiopia filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to trademark the names of three coffee-producing regions: Yirgacheffe, Harrar and Sidamo, where Fero is located.

這種看法促使這個咖啡豆出產國踏上了同星巴克公司沖突的道路。后者是一家向世界推出 4 美元一杯的拿鐵咖啡的公司。這場沖突從 2005 年 3 月份開始。當時，埃塞俄比亞向美國專利與商標署提出申請，要求用 3 個咖啡產地的名稱作為商標: 這 3 個咖啡產地分別是耶加雪、哈拉爾和西達摩，Fero 村正位于西達摩境內。

It was an attempt to use tools usually reserved for corporations in developed economies to wrest profit from their distributors. By seizing control of these brands, the Ethiopian government planned to force those who sell its coffee into licensing agreements, eventually obtaining a larger share of the sales.

這一行動意在利用通常為發達國家的公司所保留的手段，從經銷商手中爭奪一部分利潤。埃塞俄比亞政府計劃通過獲得這些品牌的控制權，迫使銷售其咖啡的那些公司簽訂許可證協議，最終獲得更大部分的銷售額。

But in the case of Sidamo, Starbucks (Charts) had got there first, with an application the year before to trademark Shirkina Sun-Dried Sidamo. Until that application was resolved, Ethiopia's claim could not go forward. The country asked Starbucks to drop its claim but received no answer for more than a year, says Kassahun Ayele, Ethiopia's ambassador to the U.S. at the time: "They said, 'You have to talk to our lawyers.'"

但是，在西達摩這一事情上，星巴克首先占到了先機，在年前就已申請用“Shirkina 曬干西達摩”這個名稱的注冊商標。在這一申請最終得到裁定之前，埃塞俄比亞的要求不可能有任何進展。該國要求星巴克放棄其注冊商標的要求，但一年多來沒有得到任何答復。埃塞俄比亞當年駐美國大使卡薩恩•艾萊（Kassahun Ayele）說: “他們說，你必須去同我們的律師商談。”

The coffee company's objection was to Ethiopia's choice of intellectual-property protection. Trademarking is an unusual, though not unprecedented, choice for a geographic region. It gives the holder the exclusive right to use the name in branding, but it doesn't place any requirements on the product. Instead, Starbucks argues, Ethiopia would be better served by another form of protection, called geographic certification, used for such products as Idaho potatoes, Roquefort cheese and Florida oranges. It guarantees that the product comes from the stated region but allows others to use the name in their branding. Jamaican Blue Mountain and Kona coffees have geographic certifications. "I can't name one case where there are trademarks for coffee," says Dub Hay, senior vice president for coffee and global procurement at Starbucks.

這家咖啡公司拒絕的理由是，埃塞俄比亞不應選擇知識產權保護的這條途徑。給一個地理區域注冊商標，雖說并非沒有先例，但卻很不尋常。因為用地名注冊商標，使商標擁有者在品牌建設中享有使用該名稱的獨占權，但卻對相應的產品沒有任何的要求。相反，星巴克辯稱，埃塞俄比亞假如采用另一種保護形式，可能會得到更好的保護。這另一種保護形式叫做“地理證明”，已用于諸如愛達荷甜薯、洛克福羊乳干酪和佛羅里達橙桔此類的產品。它保證產品來源于所述的地區，但同時也準許其他人在其品牌中使用這個名稱。牙買加的藍山和科納咖啡都有地理證明。星巴克公司咖啡和全球采購高級副總裁達布•海（Dub Hay）說: “用地名作為咖啡商標的例子，我連一個也找不到。”

Ethiopia doesn't deny that its choice is unorthodox, countering that its industry, in which 95 percent of the coffee is produced by two million subsistence-level farmers, is too unwieldy and impoverished to take on the administrative burden required to guarantee geographic origin. "If you set up certification, you have to bear the cost," says Ron Layton, head of Light Years IP, a nonprofit intellectual-property consultancy that has been advising Ethiopia.

埃塞俄比亞并不否認自己的選擇不合常規。它反駁說，在這個行業中，95% 的咖啡都是由 200 萬咖啡農生產的，這些咖啡農徘徊在生存線邊緣，勞動太繁重，生活太貧窮了，根本承擔不起保證地理來源所需要的管理負擔。光年知識產權公司（Light Years IP）總裁羅恩•雷頓（Ron Layton）說: “如果你進行了認證，你就不得不承擔相應的成本。”這是一家非營利性的知識產權顧問機構，一直向埃塞俄比亞提供顧問服務。

More to the point, certification wouldn't require distributors to seek permission to use the names in their branding. Starbucks, for instance, could still sell Shirkina Sun-Dried Sidamo, as long as its beans came from the region. "It doesn't give you that control over the market," says Getachew.

更一針見血的是，認證并不能要求經銷商要經過許可才能在其品牌中使用這些名稱。例如，只要其所采用的咖啡豆源于這個地區，星巴克仍然可能會銷售 Shirkina 曬干西達摩。格答喬說: “認證，它并不能賦予你對市場的控制權。”

To blunt some of the opposition, Ethiopia has said it will not ask for royalties for its trademarked beans. The initial licensing requirements would be simply to label the beans prominently on the package and help in the promotion of Ethiopian coffee. "When demand for Ethiopian coffee grows, we will be able to ask for higher prices," says Getachew. Only if that strategy fails, he says, would other options, such as minimum prices, be pursued.

為了減少反對意見，埃塞俄比亞已經聲明對其注冊商標的咖啡豆不要求提成費。初步的特許權規定只是在包裝上明顯地貼上咖啡豆的商標，以有助于促銷埃塞俄比亞的咖啡。格答喬說: “這樣，當埃塞俄比亞咖啡需求量增加時，我們就能索要高價。”他說，只有當這項戰略不能奏效時，才會采用其他途徑，如設定最低限價。

For Starbucks, the scenario is a potential public relations disaster, pitting the coffee company, which had record revenue of $7.8 billion last year, up 22 percent over 2005, against one of the world's poorest countries. The Seattle company has no shops in Ethiopia or indeed in sub-Saharan Africa, but Starbucks does source 2 percent of its beans from Ethiopia, accounting for 2 percent of the country's crop. It has also spent $2.4 million in investments and loans in Ethiopia since 2002. "We need these coffee farmers to be in business," says Hay.

對于星巴克來說，這個情景無異于一場潛在的公關災難，迫使它深陷同世界上最貧困國家一爭高下的泥淖。這家西雅圖公司去年營業收入突破歷史紀錄，達到 78 億美元，比 2005 年增加了 22%。它在埃塞俄比亞，甚至在整個非洲撒哈拉以南地區都沒有一家店鋪，但卻的確有 2% 的咖啡豆是從埃塞俄比亞采購，占到該國總收成的 2%。自 2002 年以來，它已經在埃塞俄比亞花費 240 萬美元進行投資和貸款。海說: “我們需要這些咖啡農繼續經營下去。”

Nobody is arguing that the farmers have it easy. In a UN ranking of human development, Ethiopia placed 170th out of 177 countries. A recent visit to Fero found most coffee farmers working without shoes. Their clothes were ripped. Most live in mud huts with thatched roofs and subsist on the fruits and vegetables they grow. "We are angry," says Teshome Debigo, a 28-year-old farmer. "But to whom can we cry?"

沒人會說這些咖啡農過得舒適安逸。根據聯合國一項人類發展排序，在 177 國家中，埃塞俄比亞排在第 170 位。最近對 Fero 村的一次考察發現，絕大多數咖啡農干活時連鞋子都沒有，衣服破爛不堪。大多數人居住在茅草屋頂的土屋中，靠自種的水果、蔬菜勉強為生。28 歲的咖啡農特紹姆•德比戈（Teshome Debigo）說: “我們非常氣憤，但我們能對誰哭訴呢？”