APA Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) Around 36 countries have registered Ethiopia’s four coffee specialities as a trade mark, which will help the country further benefit from its coffee trade across the globe, APA learnt here on Monday.
Ethiopia, the birth place of coffee, is Africa’s leading coffee exporter to the international market.
It is the country's main foreign earning product, generating over US$ 500 million annually.
The Ethiopian Intellectual Property Office (EIPO) said that European Union, Japan, US, Canada and China are among the countries that recognized the coffee specialities of Ethiopia.
“India has recently recognized the four coffee specialities and Ethiopian coffee would be sold in that country for the next eight years,” said EIPO.
The coffee specialities include Sidamo, Yirgachefe and two Harar coffees.
The recognition of these coffee specialities would further enhance coffee's 60 percent share of foreign trade earnings, according to the office.
EIPO said coffee has a direct and indirect impact on some 55 million of the estimated 80 million people in the country.
Since the past few months, the price of coffee shows a record high, impacting on the local consumers here in Ethiopia.
