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October 05, 2004

Juan Valdez and Conchita take on Starbucks!

In an entry on BoingBoing today, Xeni Jardin points to news about the new Juan Valdez Cafe that just opened in NYC. [Permalink to her post]

The New York Juan Valdez Cafe is the second one to open in the US. The first one opened in Washington DC earlier in September. The Colombian Federation of Coffee Growers, who created Juan Valdez, have plans to open one exclusive cafe in each major city in the US.

More links to extended coverage after the jump.

The Federation has begun to pursue a strategy of vertical integration to capture more of the money that consumers pay for a cup of specialty retail coffee for the growers back in Colombia. This is a vital economic strategy for Colombia. The article in the New York Times contains a multimedia graphic describing where the money goes in a cup of joe. [NYTimes.com registration required]

In keeping with the long term message of the Federation, that Colombian coffee is the richest in the world, the cafe's are designed to express high quality and forward thinking. Gothamist and State of the Art, two online magazines about NYC have images of the new cafe.

I had a chance to have coffee at one of the cafe's in November of 2003, in Bogotá where they were rolling out the idea. The coffee was first rate, and the environment was warm and inviting. I could have stayed there all day.

Posted by SWEAT at October 5, 2004 04:34 PM