Coffee Information

Who is Juan Valdez?


Juan Valdez is a fictitious character who was created in 1959 to represent the National Federation of Coffee Growers of Columbia, founded in 1926.

He is one of the most familiar faces in the advertising world, with his moustache, sombrero, poncho and his faithful mule, Lana.

In the first commercials, Juan Valdez used to wander around in the coffee fields, picking the ripe coffee berries with his hands. He was a romantic representative of thousands of Colombian "cafeteros", or "caficultores". At the same time, his image drew a great deal of criticism on its road to success.

The real cafetero in the early days of Juan Valdez lived in dire poverty. Anti-government guerrillas and narcotics traffickers endangered his already insecure life. Poisonous DDT was sprayed on his coffee fields, often, shockingly, while he and other cafeteros were at work. The National Federation failed to represent these horrors.

In later ads, Juan Valdez moved from the coffee fields to the American housewife's kitchen, handing her a personalized bag of freshly processed coffee beans.

In TV commercials, Juan Valdez was first played by actor Jose Duval. Because Duval was no longer felt to be representative, Carlos Sanchez of Medellin took his place in 1969. In the 1980s, the Juan Valdez commercials used Rolls Royce cars and luxury residences. In the 1990s, a new slogan was devised: Grab life by the beans. Dynamic pictures showed Juan Valdez surfing or snowboarding. In the late nineties, however, Juan Valdez disappeared from the public eye for several years. The Colombian government had drastically cut back on advertising.

In 2000, Juan Valdez, in the person of Carlos Sanchez, reappeared. Andres Pastrana, President of Columbia, awarded him the silver cross medal for national merit.

In December of that year, the National Federation of Coffee Growers of Colombia opened its first "Juan Valdez" Coffee shop in Bogota airport. Juan Valdez appeared in the movie "Bruce Almighty" at a cost to the Federation of $1,5 million.

At the time of writing (2004), the symbol of Columbian coffee is trying to make a breakthrough into North America. The first "Juan Valdez" coffee house was opened in September 2004 in Washington, and the second, one month later, in New York.

Ultimately, Juan Valdez is aiming at Seattle, the heart of American coffee-making. Starbucks officials stated they do not feel threatened by the famous moustache man. Gabriel Silva, manager of the Columbian Federation, said in return that the Federation would not go as far as having 8,000 or 10,000 Juan Valdez outlets, as their competition intends.

Iulia Pascanu writes for http://www.madcoffeemaker.com where you can find more information about The Mad Coffee Maker

Please feel free to use this article in your Newsletter or on your website. If you use this article, please include the resource box and send a brief message to let me know where it appeared. mailto: iuliap@gmail.com


MORE RESOURCES:
Google

Some coffee fans get grim delight in Starbucks woes
Reuters - 9 hours ago
By Ellen Wulfhorst NEW YORK (Reuters) - One coffee drinker's bad news is another coffee drinker's good news, it seems. Financial woes at Starbucks Corp., ...


KNCU pushes for improved coffee
DailyNewsOnline, United Republic of Tanzania - 42 minutes ago
He also said that KNCU's farmers do not apply chemicals to coffee farms in order to sustain environmentally friendly agriculture and that the Union has ...


The troubled company wakes up and smells the coffee
Economist, UK - Jul 3, 2008
As a result, baristas at Starbucks coffee shops around America are starting to get a taste of what it feels like to be a carworker in Detroit. ...


A bitter-tasting jolt for Starbucks
Boston Globe, United States - Jul 4, 2008
This week the Seattle-based coffee kahuna announced it is closing 600 of its 6800 US stores and laying off more than 12000 employees, or "partners" in the ...


Coffee shop owners upbeat despite economic slowdown
Sunday Business Post, Ireland - 22 hours ago
Coffee shop owners do not expect the economic slowdown to affect their business, despite slowing consumer spending. Emmet Daly, owner of the Cafe Sol chain ...


Starbucks pulls plug on 600 US coffee shops
MarketWatch - Jul 1, 2008
The shutdowns, starting now and running through March 2009, are far more than the coffee-shop chain had originally planned. In January, Starbucks said it ...


ABC News

Retail Changes Key To Starbucks Closings
NPR - Jul 5, 2008
The coffee chain announced this week that it's closing about 600 stores, but it's not the only chain slimming down to meet hard economic times. ...
Posted By BY CORINA MILIC, THE SAULT STAR Sault Star
The Big Question: Is the global domination of Starbucks finally on ... Independent
all 1,366 news articles


Forget instant coffee: Here comes instant love
Standard, Kenya - 2 hours ago
The age of instant coffee, instant dating and instant love is here with us. Ivy has lived in Malindi for almost all her life. She is 23 and says she is half ...


Oregon coffee stand man missing 3 months
KTVZ, OR - 21 hours ago
The owner of a coffee stand near Roseburg has not been seen since. The weekend receipts from his Gotta Hava Java business were gone and the truck was not on ...
Oregon coffee stand man missing 3 months The Oregonian - OregonLive.com
all 4 news articles


Import-duty cut on beans may benefit coffee consumers
Economic Times, India - Jul 5, 2008
BANGALORE: With domestic coffee brands increasing prices by as much as 20% over the last 12 months and with further hikes anticipated in the wake of a ...

Coffee - Google News

home | site map
© 2006