Dear Prospective Partner,
Thank you for your interest in the Ethiopian Coffee Trademarking and Licensing Initiative and for coming to our dedicated website.
The aim of this initiative is to build a new form of partnership between Ethiopia and the coffee companies worldwide that sell our finest coffees - Sidamo, Yirgacheffe and Harar/Harrar. Ethiopian coffee farmers and exporters have had few opportunities to work directly with importers and retailers in the past, so we have created an innovative new platform for dialogue and cooperation on a long-term strategy for brand management and promotions. We firmly believe that working together we can increase the recognition and value of Ethiopian fine coffee brands and benefit the whole of the fine coffee industry - from the farmer to the consumer.
The Ethiopian Intellectual Property Office (EIPO) is implementing this initiative in conjunction with the Ethiopian Fine Coffee Stakeholder Committee, which is made up of coffee farmers unions cooperatives, private coffee exporters and other bodies with direct responsibility for the development of the coffee Sector in Ethiopia. You can read more about why and how this all got started in 2004 in our section 'About the Initiative'. All involved are determined to empower Ethiopian coffee farmers so they can benefit from the hard-earned reputations of their amazing gourmet coffees. Coffee companies that share this visionary goal are joining a growing network of licensed distributors.
Since the first historic meeting between Ethiopian Stakeholders and licensed distributors in February 2007, more than sixty companies from across Africa, the United States, Europe and Asia and forty seven Ethiopian fine coffee exporters as well as three coffee producers unions have signed the license agreement and joined the network of licensed distributors. You can look over the profiles of some of these companies, along with a full list of licensees in our 'Licensing' section.
In this spirit, we invite you to join the many companies who have already signed or declared their intention to join in our network of licensed distributors. We hope that the information provided in the 'Licensing' section and the draft license agreement gives you enough to start with the process. We would welcome the opportunity to meet you in person to discuss the process further. If you would like to arrange a meeting, please email or call us using the information provided on the 'Contacts' page.
In May of this year, Ethiopia has been chosen to be the portrait country represented at the Specialty Coffee Association of America annual conference in Minneapolis , Minnesota. Representatives of the Stakeholder Committee and the Ethiopian Intellectual Property Office will be in attendance to assist companies wishing to join the growing network. If you are planning to attend the conference and would like to arrange a meeting during the event, once again, please email or call us using the 'Contacts' page.
If you are an Ethiopian coffee lover then we hope you too will be able to support us. We mention some ways you can really assist us for your consideration in the 'About the Initiative' section of the site.
So, we hope you will join us on our exciting journey. And please come back soon for new features we are preparing, news of upcoming promotions, other ways that you can help Ethiopia and the histories of Ethiopia's most famous coffees. We look forward to working with you and welcoming you to Ethiopia's network of licensed distributors and our supporters list.
Getachew Mengistie
Director General
Ethiopian Intellectual Property Office
T: +251 (11) 553 4969
gmengistie@yahoo.com