Juan Valdez, the coffee guy with the donkey, is perhaps the most famous coffee grower of all time. You have probably seen his image on bags of coffee, or you’ve heard him doing his best to convince you to drink coffee on TV – or even in the movies.
But who is Juan Valdez? Does this celebrated coffee grower represent something larger than himself?
Indeed, he does.
Let me walk you through the history of this well-known coffee grower and how he’s affected the coffee industry for decades.
What will you learn in this article?
- Who is Juan Valdez?
- What does he represent?
- What impact has Juan Valdez made on the world?
- Is he still alive?
- Where can you drink Juan Valdez coffee?
Who is Juan Valdez?
Juan Valdez is a Colombian coffee grower.
You’ll recognize him right away. That famous mustached coffee grower you’ve seen lurking around on TV and on coffee ads always wears that distinctive white hat and traditional ruana (poncho) over his shoulder.
He’s always smiling, coaxing his listeners in his charming Spanish accent to take just a sip of that irresistible morning brew.
Maybe you saw that time when Juan Valdez poured a hot cup of Colombian coffee for Jim Carey.
If for some reason you’ve never seen the TV ads, take a look at this 1970s Juan Valdez ad.
However, this Colombian coffee grower wasn’t actually born in Colombia. Or…even born at all.
Where was he born?
At this point I’m going to have to break the hard news to you.
Juan Valdez is not a real person.
He was created in 1959 in the offices of a marketing agency in New York City.
Juan Valdez was the key figure in a massive marketing campaign to promote Colombian coffee as a single-origin product and mark of quality.
Even though he’s just a fictional character in a marketing campaign, don’t underestimate what he’s done for the coffee industry.
He’s had a powerful effect on coffee consumption around the world. And he’s done a phenomenal job of representing Colombian coffee.
Let’s go back a bit further in history to see who’s behind the image, who created him, and why.
But just a quick note – if you want to learn about coffee in Colombia, we can help you out with our in-person or virtual coffee workshops. They’re fun, dynamic, and take you through all you need to know about coffee in Colombia.
What does Juan Valdez represent?
The story of Juan Valdez starts with the story of coffee growers in Colombia.
So feel free to brew yourself a cup of coffee (Colombian, please) and let’s travel into the past.
Colombia started growing coffee around the same time the rest of the region did – in the early 1700s. It didn’t really take off until the late 1800s, and at first land was concentrated in the power of just a handful of big landowners.
That’s changed in the last 100 years. In Colombia, there are now around 550,000 coffee growers, owners of their own small farms. If you include family members and others that work directly or indirectly with the coffee industry, millions of people in Colombia depend on coffee for a living.
In a way, Juan Valdez represents those coffee growers. Although he’s modeled after the typical male coffee grower from the Paisa region in the center of Colombia, his image is meant to represent every coffee grower in the country, regardless of their gender or ethnic background.
Who created Juan Valdez?
Juan Valdez is a creation of the Colombian Federation of Coffee Growers (called the FNC or Fedecafe). This Federation was started in 1927 to protect and promote the coffee industry in Colombia.
According to the FNC, they’re now the largest rural agricultural NGO in the whole world.
As a non-profit organization, they’re not directly connected with the Colombian government. They do, however, work hand in hand with the government on social projects for coffee growers.
The FNC dedicates funds to help coffee growers and the coffee industry in general. They invest in scientific research, marketing, promotion, social projects for growers and commercial projects.
Way back in the 1950s they wanted to promote Colombian coffee consumption in the United States. That was a smart idea – about half the coffee consumed in the world at that time was consumed in the US.
So they hired a marketing agency in New York City to create an ad campaign. The agency recommended they come up with an emblematic figure of all Colombian coffee growers.
The FNC went with the image of someone from the most known coffee-growing area of that time – the eje cafetero.
Even now, the majority of owners of coffee farms are men, so the figure of women coffee growers didn’t make it at that time.
The Federation launched their marketing campaign at the end of the 1950s…and probably never even dreamed of the impact it would have.
Learn about coffee in Colombia with us – we have in-person or virtual coffee workshops.
What impact has Juan Valdez made in the coffee world?
The Juan Valdez marketing campaign is admired as an outstanding success at promoting coffee.
Up until that time, roasters blended coffee from many countries, without highlighting any specific area. No single country, no single region, was given attention.
With Juan Valdez, that changed. For the first time, the world had a single-origin coffee.
This marketing campaign, and later the Café de Colombia seal, placed Colombian coffee on the map as a single-origin coffee.
A new image was born in the minds of coffee consumers. Now they could see, on their own TV, scenes of a coffee grower picking coffee in the high mountains of Colombia.
That was the beginning of a slow change towards focusing on origin as a promise of quality in coffee. Just as wine from certain regions or countries has been appreciated, now coffee was beginning to get its chance to shine.
It defined a coffee and a country. It even defined the coffee industry as a whole.
In my case, Juan Valdez had a huge impact on my concept of coffee. He was so present in my childhood (we’re talking the late 1970s and early 1980s), I thought all coffee was from Colombia.
As a coffee professor, I now realize that’s not true. But back in the 80s, I couldn’t have mentioned another coffee-producing country.
Who makes Juan Valdez coffee?
When we talk about the coffee producers behind the Juan Valdez brand, you’re literally talking about the whole 550,000 coffee producers in Colombia.
These producers can, if they so desire, sell their coffee to the FNC. In turn, the FNC sells the coffee to a private company that manages the Juan Valdez brand, Procafecol.
So while all coffee producers in Colombia may contribute to the coffee in the brand, Procafecol is the company that owns and manages the brand.
Coffee producers in Colombia are not forced to sell their coffee to the FNC. They can choose to do so. And even more important, they are guaranteed the purchase of green coffee.
That green purchase guarantee is unique to coffee – no other industry in Colombia guarantees the purchase of a farmer’s production.
The FNC generally pays market prices for the coffee. That may be well below what a coffee grower could earn if they sold a higher-quality coffee to a direct buyer or through a co-op with an international buyer. So coffee producers with better-quality coffee may choose to sell to other coffee buyers.
Is Juan Valdez still alive?
Yes, and no. The original Juan Valdez, the one that showed his face to the world in 1959, has obviously passed away.
Unfortunately, he wasn’t a coffee grower, and wasn’t even Colombian. Back a few decades ago it would have been a logistics nightmare to try to import a coffee grower every time they needed to film an ad.
The current actor that gives a face to Juan Valdez is a genuine coffee grower with a farm in Antioquia, Colombia.
You can meet him at coffee fairs in Colombia as well as around the world. (Here Juan Valdez and I are discussing learning English. Seriously).
How good is Juan Valdez coffee?
One notable truth about Juan Valdez coffee is that, today, it is 100% Colombian coffee.
Why would that be important?
Because quite a bit of the coffee consumed in Colombia is not from Colombia. Cheaper coffee is imported from abroad, while the more expensive (think: higher quality) coffee is exported.
So it’s one step ahead of some other Colombian coffee brands simply because they are selling Colombian coffee. (That wasn’t always the case).
And the Juan Valdez brand does have better quality coffee than what you could generally buy around Colombia.
Do you want to learn about coffee in Colombia? Join us for a coffee workshop.
Where can you drink Juan Valdez coffee?
While Colombians are not generally aware of the successful international publicity campaign, they are proud of their chain of Juan Valdez coffee shops.
Juan Valdez coffee shops were created in 2002. They have done well in Colombia, with hundreds of coffee shops scattered around the country.
Although they’re present in about a dozen countries, internationally they’re up against tough competition from more established coffee chains.
A typical Juan Valdez coffee shop in Colombia does have the feel of a typical modern American coffee shop, similar to Starbucks without the comfortable sofas.
The menu includes coffee drinks with syrups, abundant milk, and other ways to dress up coffee. Most stores will also give you at least a limited choice of coffee from certain coffee-growing regions.
Where the brand shines in Colombia is one of their shops in Zona G, Bogota. It’s their Origins concept that promotes the experience of understanding where the coffee is from.
There you’ll find traditional floor tiling, a vertical garden reminiscent of the abundant vegetation in many coffee-producing regions, and tables made of recycled coffee trees. And of course, burlap export bags.
When Starbucks opened its first shop in Colombia, I kept an eye on the Juan Valdez shops, both the one just down the street from the Starbucks and at other locations.
While Starbucks did have a line out the door for days, I’m proud to say that Juan Valdez shops continued to be as packed as ever.
You’ll still see crowds of families and groups of friends around the tables at any Juan Valdez shop.
Whereas there are about 300 Juan Valdez coffee shops around Colombia, Starbucks only has around two dozen shops in three cities in Colombia.
And now one last important question I’ll answer…
What is the name of Juan Valdez’s donkey?
She accompanies her owner to coffee events around the world. Mild-mannered and able to withstand pressure, she’s a pleasure to work with. Juan Valdez’s faithful companion is his donkey, Conchita.
Does the image of a coffee grower with a donkey seem like an antiquated vision? Actually, it’s not.
The donkey is still a permanent companion of Colombian coffee growers, both female and male. Although it has been largely replaced by the colorful Jeep Willys, there are areas that even those tough jeeps can’t get to.
So the future employment prospects of Colombian donkeys seem well established.
Would you like to learn more about coffee in Colombia? We have in-person and virtual workshops that teach you all about the history of coffee in Colombia, what coffee means to Colombians, and how you can find the perfect cup of coffee for you. Find out all the details about our coffee workshops here!
Quick facts
- Juan Valdez was “born” in 1959
- He was “born” in New York City
- The Juan Valdez brand is from Colombia
- You can drink coffee at hundreds of Juan Valdez coffee shops around the world
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