Coffee Wars

Well, some people are referring to the battle starting up between Starbucks – with its new ‘pairings’ of a latte or tall coffee plus some form of pastry item (surely not one that is selling poorly that it is trying to offload?) for $3.95 – and Caribou Coffee with a temporary price cut on all pastries to $1.

But the real coffee war is going on in Kenya where two groups are maneuvering for trading rights at the important Nairobi weekly auctions according to the Daily Nation in Kenya.

The Coffee Board of Kenya (CBK) and the Kenya Planters’ Co-operative Union (KPCU) are disagreeing over fees, payments and the amount of control the CBK has over granting licenses for the auction. The Coffee Board accuses KPCU of failing to pay them some Sh147 million, the latter accuses CBK of withholding some Sh47 million. The Kenyan government and courts have stepped in and lifted the ban on KPCU until the court can determine of KPCU has a case to answer.

That all seems a lot more important then the price of a not-so-great pastry from the local coffee shop, doesn’t it?

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