High-ranking executives from Starbucks, the world’s largest coffee chain, have made a discreet visit to Ethiopia, the continent’s leading coffee producer.
While Starbucks representatives have described this visit as a “low-profile business trip,” it seems anything but low-key to industry insiders, as it ushered in high-level global executives.
The high-profile delegation included executives from Starbucks’ trading division, Starbucks Coffee Trading Company, including Andres Berron, Managing Director and Vice President, Elliot Bentzen, Director of Trading & Traffic, Michelle Burns, Executive Vice President of Global Coffee & Sustainability, as well as other senior personnel from Starbucks’ roasting division.
Starbucks Coffee Trading Company oversees the coffee chain’s extensive green coffee supply chain globally, including transportation and quality.
Behailu Woldesenbet, the country manager for Starbucks’ Farmer Support Center in Ethiopia, described the trip as very low profile and refrained from commenting on its business objectives.
Starbucks typically conducts annual visits to its suppliers in Ethiopia; however, this marks the first instance in an extended period that a high-ranking executive has arrived and engaged in such understated trips.
Even the Ethiopian Coffee and Tea Authority was not aware of the visit. Adugna Debele (PhD), Director General of the Ethiopian Coffee and Tea Authority, told Shega that the Authority had not been officially informed of their trip or its purpose.
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