Juan Valdez Cafe
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| Procafecol S.A | |
|---|---|
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| Type | Public |
| Founded | September 2002 in Bogotá, Colombia |
| Headquarters | Bogotá, COL |
| Key people | Gabriel Silva, Chairman |
| Industry | Restaurants Retail Coffee & Tea Retail Beverages Entertainment |
| Products | Whole Bean Coffee Made-to-order beverages Bottled beverages Baked Goods Merchandise Frappuccino beverages |
| Employees | over 5,000 |
| Website | [1] |
Juan Valdez Cafe is a multinational coffeehouse chain based in Colombia. It was created by Colombia's Fondo Nacional del Café and Procafecol S.A., the latter a company established by the national federation of coffee producers in 2002. It was named after Juan Valdez, Colombia's longtime coffee icon and an American household name. Juan Valdez Cafe is currently the only coffeehouse from a coffee producing country.
Juan Valdez Cafe is a multinational chain of public cofeehouses specialized in the retail of coffee. Its main mission is to participate in the worldwide coffee restaurant business, giving promotion and recognition to Colombian coffee, which is reputed as the richest coffee in the world.
The establishment of Juan Valdez Cafe fulfilled the aspirations of Colombian coffee makers, who for decades were advocating for projection of the national brand. During the 1960s and 1970s, the Colombian Coffee Federation opened some outlets in Argentina and Spain, but were closed before 1985.
However, as early as 2000, the situation was different: market prices for green coffee beans were low, and coffee had become popular everywhere, allowing the growth of coffeehouses. This boom was seized by Colombia's Federación Nacional de Cafeteros in September 2002, establishing Juan Valdez Cafe as its official coffeehouse brand, and began expansion immediately. The first location was opened in Bogotá, followed in Medellín and Cali, and later in other cities. The first international location was opened in the United States, and the company is currently in expansion.
The National Federation of Coffee Growers of Colombia established the Juan Valdez cafes as part of a marketing campaign to promote fair trade coffee. Consumers automatically support the farmers when they patronize the store. In Colombia, the coffee industry accounts for over 8% of the GDP, employing directly and indirectly more than a million people and farms spanning over half the number of towns in the whole country. The federation, established in 1927, is owned and controlled by 500,000 farmers who grow their coffee on small farms, as opposed to plantations. The issue of fair prices for coffee farmers became even more important in 2000 when coffee prices steadily dropped from $1.30 a pound in January to 75 cents a pound by December because of increased production, according to the International Coffee Organization.
Since 1960, the federation has spent $600 million building the Juan Valdez brand. But its advertising campaign went dark in 2001 as coffee prices hit all-time lows. The federation plans to spend $75 million in the next five years to reposition itself as an upscale specialty-coffee region with a diverse line of coffee.
Juan Valdez Cafe sells 100% Colombian coffee of the highest quality, from drip brewed coffee, espresso-based hot drinks, other hot and cold drinks, snacks and items such as mugs, shirts, jackets and coffee beans of all types. Juan Valdez brand grinded coffee beans are also sold at grocery stores.
Juan Valdez is the only international coffeehouse authorized to officially sell Colombian coffee. In September 2007 it was given protected designation of origin granted by the European Union after an international dispute won by the Colombian National Federation of Coffee Growers on intellectual property, and the lawsuit brought against a Costa Rica-based company using the Juan Valdez slogan (Juan Valdez drinks Costa Rican coffee).
In 2005, during the U.S. Advertising Week Juan Valdez was voted as the most important advertising icon in the United States, beating popular ones like Ronald McDonald, the Energizer bunnies, Charlie the Tuna and Nike. In 2004, M&M's was the first winning brand logo in the competition. The Juan Valdez icon won with more than 200,000 votes from advertisers. The other short-listed icons were Geico the Geko, Budweiser Clysdales and Double Mint Twins.
As of 2007, Juan Valdez had over 80 company-owned and joint-venture and licensed outlets in Colombia. International expansion, which began in 2005, brought new locations to New York City, Philadelphia, Seattle, Washington D.C. and Madrid, Spain.
Juan Valdez Cafe coffeehouses can be found in many popular grocery chains, shopping centers as well as in many airports.
The company will continue its expansion by opening locations in Miami, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Toronto, Boston, Barcelona, Valencia, London, Paris, Frankfurt, Amsterdam in Europe, and in Latin America.
