Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Most of you have seen the representation of a Colombian coffee grower, wearing his
traditional poncho and hat, walking aside his donkey, selling his coffee production to a
« gringo » for over 20 years now.
This man, called Juan Valdez, is nowadays the most famous Colombian and Latin
American commercial icon in the world.
The use of the commercial potential of this icon is, since 2002, the heart of a unique
commercial development strategy.
1/ Origin
Since their launch, the Tiendas Juan Valdez® were designed to reach the up-market, with
an ambiance mixing the Starbucks standards and the touch of a Lounge coffee shop of
Barcelona. The warm colours symbolize South American tradition, however they also
exhibit luxury and a calm atmosphere.
The first Tiendas were opened near business centers, high-end malls and trendy sectors
of the cities.
Since its creation, this ambitious project based its expansion on a 3 step strategy:
1. Colombian Pilot (2003-2006)
2. International Pilot (2004-2007)
3. International Development (2006 -…)
In 2003, year that the project was launched, 10 coffee houses were opened in Colombia.
Since 2004, this international expansion made possible the creation of 10 coffee houses in
the USA (Washington, New York, Seattle, Philadelphia) and 2 in Spain (Madrid).
2
Norms and Labels as key success factors to conquer the
European market
When considering the conquest of the European market, the FNC analysed the last trends
in consumption. Two figures impacted the directors of the Federation: European
consumers are willing to pay 10% more for a product with a European Label and 73,9% of
them consider it as a quality seal.
In September 2007, after 33 months of legal procedure, Colombian coffee became the first
non-European product to obtain the PGI European Label (Protected Geographical
Indication).
Juan Valdez could now develop its commercial strategy and think of opening new coffee
houses. Two were just created in Madrid while Paris and Moscow are now on the list of the
international expansion plan of the Colombian Federation.
By the end of 2007, the FNC and Procafecol were running more than 100 coffee houses in
Colombia, 10 in the USA and 2 in Europe. They are now launching a new coffee house per
month and want to make 2008 the year of their European expansion.
http://www.juanvaldez.com/ and http://www.juanvaldezcafe.com/
This Case Study was written by Jerome Sutter, graduated from SKEMA Business School
Sophia Antipolis, Marketing teacher at EAN Bogotá and Jorge Tadeo Lozano University,
CEO of SonidoLocal.com and Consultant in Strategy and Entrepreneurship in the
Multimedia sector.
It is based on the observation of a real situation and was published with authorization.
E-mail: jerome.sutter@gmail.com - Blog: http://www.jeromesutter.net
Questions:
1- What is the strategy used by the FNC to launch the European development of the Juan
Valdez brand?
2- Do you think the image of the coffee grower with his donkey is suitable for the
European development of the Juan Valdez brand?
3- What values are expressed by the design of the Tiendas Juan Valdez? Do they
correspond to your own perception of the Colombian Coffee?
4- What is the positioning of the Tiendas Juan Valdez? Do you think it is the best strategy
for its European development?
5- How are the Tiendas Juan Valdez helping the whole supply chain of the Colombian
coffee?
This Case Study was written in French by Jerome Sutter for the Brand Design book,
published in March 2008 by De Boeck (ISBN-13: 978-2804154899).
Translation by Jerome Sutter.