November 29, 2003
The Return of Juan Valdez!
Full Story @ Mercury News
Coffee growers to open U.S. stores
COLOMBIAN FEDERATION TO TOUT VALDEZ BRAND
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 next year.
Gabriel Silva, the president of the federation, which is based in Bogota, Colombia, said he believes 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,'' 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.''
Coffee growers are facing a difficult market. Per-capita consumption has been in decline since 1963 with the only growth area the specialty coffee shops, led by Starbucks, according to the International Coffee Organization in London. The price of coffee beans has also declined significantly from a high of about $1.20 a pound five years ago because of a global oversupply of coffee beans from countries like Vietnam and Brazil. In Colombia today, the average coffee grower gets only about 68 cents per pound of coffee, Silva said.
*muddy's note*
Now I happen to see this little piece of irony and had to take a screen shot of it.
Yes, interresting screen shot. In the decade old words of Arsenio Hall ( laying his finger on the side of his temple) :
"Hhhmmmmmmm"
Posted by: mrs. muddy at November 29, 2003 09:06 PM