No challenge could hold Colombian coffee back from global recognition and success.

In 1927, the National Federation of Colombian Coffee Growers (NFCGC) was established to promote the production and exportation of Colombian coffee.The timing was unfortunate, to say the least: two years later, the collapse of the New York Stock Exchange sent prices spiraling for worldwide commodities like coffee. In the following decades, the federation faced an uphill battle, working tenaciously to provide technical support and professional guidance to its members.By 1957, despite years of arduous work and noteworthy progress, Colombian coffee wasn't considered a premium product. So the federation conjured up the most potent tool to bring a product to the masses: a compelling story.The following year, sporting sandals and a faithful donkey, Juan Valdez's character was born. He represented the small farmers of Colombia's mountains, ready to prove to the world that their country's coffee was the best there was. The Juan Valdez brand is now known the world over and is a textbook example of a successful marketing campaign.

Over six decades after Juan was created, the NFCGC represents over half a million producers across the nation and has carried the brand to new heights through the company Prolafecol S.A. In 2000, driven by the coffee shop culture massively spread by global brands such as Starbucks, Juan Valdez bet on its first public store in the country’s main international entry point, Bogota’s El Dorado International Airport.The company's expansion since then has been remarkable. Because of Juan Valdez Café, Colombia is one of those few markets (like Italy) where Starbucks is not the dominant coffee shop chain. Today there are roughly 10x more JV locations than Starbucks in the country.

Counting its international presence, there are nearly 600 coffee shops and over 90K distribution points (supermarkets, restaurants, airlines, and hotels) across more than 28 countries worldwide.

Local JV shops in Colombia have become the core of the business, bringing in more than half of the revenue for Juan Valdez in 2023. And clearly business has been quite good, given the nearly $20M in operating profit seen last year.

Evidently, Juan and his burro are not slowing down. International sales have grown to nearly $50M, while locations in Colombia itself more than double that figure.

A century after its origins, Colombia’s coffee industry has successfully shown the world its product’s quality.

Stacked bar chart showing Juan Valdez coffee shop locations in Colombia and elsewhere, demonstrating growth from 1 to almost 600 in 20 years | Sources: Juan Valdez Earnings, Latinometrics
Juan Valdez Coffee Shops: From 1 to Almost 600 in 20 Years