Interesting: Move Over Starbucks, Juan Valdez Is Coming

The Colombian Coffee Federation, which represents more than 500,000 Colombian coffee growers, is planning to open its first coffee shops - all bearing the name Juan Valdez, after the federation’s signature character - in the United States by early 2024. Gabriel Silva, the president of the federation, which is based in Bogotá, says the coffee growers have been “too passive” in claiming a larger piece of the $8.4 billion specialty coffee industry.

“In a cup of coffee that you get at a coffee shop, between 1 and 2 cents goes back to the farmer,” Mr. Silva said, referring to Colombian growers. “We need to build our own solutions and take the destiny in our hands and really fight for our share of the industry.”

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By selling its own coffee at its own coffee shops, the federation, which represents both small and large coffee growers, plans to return 4 to 5 cents for each cup of coffee sold. Each of the federation’s 560,000 farmers will also have an ownership stake in the shops, Mr. Silva said. The profits from the retail operation will go back to the federation, which said it would put marketing dollars behind the Juan Valdez brand and work to improve Colombia’s coffee-growing regions by building roads, schools, health centers and housing.