Light Years IP

Display of Unity Further Raises Prospects for the Ethiopian Fine Coffee Sector

October 10, 2007

ADDIS ABABA – October 9, 2007 – At an exuberant event at the Addis Ababa, 40 Ethiopian coffee exporters joined with H.E Yakob Yala, State Minister of Agriculture & Development and Mr Getachew Mengistie, Director General of the Ethiopian Intellectual Property Office (EIPO) to sign up publicly in support of the Fine Coffee Trademarking and Licensing Initiative.

The Initiative is breaking new ground for the fine coffee sector in Ethiopia. Trademarks for Sidamo, Yirgacheffe and Harar have been applied for in 36 countries, and secured in 28 to date, and 23 coffee companies in the UK, the Netherlands, Canada and the USA are enrolled already as licensed distributors, including US market leaders such as The Starbucks Coffee Corporation. As licensing accelerates, a further 25 key companies are expected by May 2008.

“Bringing Ethiopian producers and exporters together with overseas coffee distributors and retailers to work collaboratively to enhance the demand and value of these fine coffees is the focal point of the project,” commented Getachew Mengistie, Director General of the EIPO today. “We have started out on a new journey and the unity and sense of shared vision here in our country now is very precious.”

State Minister of Agriculture & Development H.E. Yakob Yala commented, “Although many foreign companies have signed the license agreement and joined the network, in the absence of the active participation of Ethiopian exporters it was difficult for the initiative to meet its goals. Therefore, the signing up of Ethiopian exporters is a fundamental achievement of the initiative and an indication of the readiness of Ethiopian exporters to support the country’s development effort”.

The new framework being created by the Trademarking and Licensing approach ensures greater bargaining power for Ethiopia and a real say for the sector in the presentation and marketing of Ethiopia’s fine coffees in the final market. Many producing countries are watching Ethiopia’s experiment closely as this downstream involvement in coffee marketing is unprecedented.

The President of Ethiopia’s Exporters’ Association, Ato Abdurazak, commented, “A lot of effort has gone into the preparation and ongoing work of this Initiative by our members, many of whom have decades of experience in trading these coffees. We appreciate that we are now at a turning point and stand ready to play our part in ensuring its success.”

Contacts and Notes:

Contacts:

1. Abdurazak Sherriff, President, Ethiopian Coffee Exporters Association, T: 251 11 371 19 90 email: [email protected]

2. Getachew Mengistie Director General Ethiopian Intellectual Property Office, EIPO T: 251 115 534 969 email: [email protected]

The following Ethiopian Coffee Exporters have now signed as Licensed Exporters:

A.S.K International Trading

Abadir Coff Trading PLC

Adem Bedane Oda Imp.-Exp.

Alfoz Pvt. Ltd. Co.

Alpha Trading Partners PLC

Ambassa Enterprise PLC

Atita Preivate Limited Co.

Baminif Trading PLC

Belete Shibeshi PLC

Cabey PLC

Camels Trading Enterprise PLC

Challa Mulisa Coffee Exporter

Challenge Coffee Traders PLC

Ethio Agri-CEFT PLC

Ethiopian Commodities PLC

Garden Mocca PLC

Ghion Industrial & Commercial PLC

Green Gold Ethiopia PLC

Guji coffee Exporters PLC

Haicof Limited PLC

Hora Trading

Kaleb Service Farmers House PLC

Kedir Haji Hassen

Kemal Abdella International PLC

Legesse Sherefa PLC

Mohammed A. Ogsadey Imp. Exp.

Mullege Pvt. Ltd. Co.

Oromia Coffee Farmers Cooperatives Union

Robera Pvt. Ltd. Company

S. Sara Coffee Enterprise

S.A.Bagerish

S.M.S Private Limited Co.

Said Jemal Rahmato PLC

Seid Yassin Ali Coffee Exp. Enterprise

Semachew Demissie Investment PLC

Tracon Trading

Winta International TradingPLC

Yirgacheffe Coffee Farmers Ccoperatives Union

Zege PLC

Zibad