Starbucks has climbed down in its dispute with the Ethiopian Government, agreeing not to oppose Addis Ababa’s attempt to secure trademarks for its coffee in the US.

The US coffee shop giant has also offered to hold talks on licensing the one US trademark granted to Ethiopa so far.

The dispute came to a head last week at the East Africa Fine Coffee Association’s conference in the Ethiopian capital when Starbucks representatives met with ministers.

The Government, backed by the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, had reportedly threatened legal action over the issue.

It wants to secure trademarks and establish a licensed network of distributors to boost the profile of its coffee, thereby increasing the original price of the beans and the profits of its farmers.

The Seattle-based coffee shop’s senior vice-president of coffee and procurement, Dub Hay, had claimed that the trademark bid had been illegal and that it was not the best way to improve the lot of impoverished coffee farmers.

Last week, Mr Hay apologised for his comments.

Alain Poncelet, managing director of Starbucks’ purchasing operations, added: “He made it clear it was the wrong choice of words on our part.”

Mr Poncelet denied that talks had been difficult but said: “Because of the size of (Starbucks’) purchase in East Africa, it has not been that high. We realise we did not engage as well as we should have with East African governments.”

He insisted that trademarking was not the right approach, but said: “If they get trademarks, we will work together on a licensing agreement.”

It respected Ethiopia’s right to establish a network of licensed distributors, but it has not joined.

A spokesman for the Ethiopian Intellectual Property Office said: “It’s a step in the right direction.”

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