Interview: Colombia Juan Valdez Coffee Shops Eyes Having 1,200 Outlets by 2030
Interview: Colombia Juan Valdez Coffee Shops Eyes Having 1,200 Outlets by 2030
Coffee Network (Bogota) - Colombian coffee shop Juan Valdez has set the goal to have 1,200 coffee shops around the world and in Colombia by 2030, with eyes focused on growing coffee consumption nations such as Brazil and China, Camila Escobar, president of Procafecol, the holding that controls Juan Valdez, told Coffee Network.
Procafecol plans to have 700 coffee shops overseas by 2030, more than three times the 220 shops it currently has across 20 different nations. Juan Valdez eyes marking inroads into China by 2026, and Brazil in 2025, Escobar told Coffee Network in an interview
Juan Valdez eyes having 500 coffee shops in Colombia by 2030, up from the 380 outlets now.
“By 2030, we will have more coffee shops abroad than in Colombia,” Escobar told Coffee Network, in an interview.
Procafecol currently has 600 coffee shops in Colombia and abroad.
Juan Valdez recently announced plans to enter Brazil. The company along with a local franchiser SEB Group seek to have 300 coffee shops in the world’s largest coffee producer by 2034. Brazil’s per capita coffee consumption of around 5 kg/per year is a great place to expand Juan Valdez’s stores, Escobar added.
“Brazil doubles Colombia's population and is a large country open to good quality coffee,” she said.
Next year, Juan Valdez will work on the penetration of the brand into China, while its sights on entering China will begin in 2026. Escobar acknowledges that China is a market that poses serious challenges because of the different ways to do business.
“We are analyzing this market which poses commercial challenges given the way they do business,” Escobar noted.
The Colombian coffee growers federation has set the target to increase exports of green beans to the Chinese market.
The international expansion of the Juan Valdez brand will also concentrate in three regions: North America, Europe, the Middle East.
In North America, the expansion will focus on Canada, the US and Mexico. In Mexico, they reentered this year with the opening of a new store in February in Merida, Yucatán. There, the expansion is being done with the Zepeda Group.
In the Middle East, the focus is centered on exploring Saudi Arabia and expanding into United Arab Emirates. In the United Arab Emirates, there is a high purchasing power with a strong appetite to lure international brands and high coffee consumption, Escobar noted.
In December last year, Juan Valdez opened the first flagship store in Dubai with plans to have 100 coffee shops in Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Lebanon and Morocco.
In Europe, the focus of the expansion is centered in Turkey and Spain. In Turkey, Juan Valdez aims to have more than 30 stores by the end of 2024. “There, the expansion plan has been spectacular,” she said.
Financial Results
Procafecol expects an operating income of COP700 billion Colombian pesos ($170.73 million) by the end 2024, up 8% on the year. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (Ebitda) should increase to COP50 billion, up 10% on the year.
Despite the deceleration of the Colombian economy, sales in Colombia continue to grow but not at two digits but at one digit.
In Colombia, where coffee per capita consumption is around 2.3kg /year, there are multiple opportunities to grow.
“One of the opportunities we have is to continue increasing per capita consumption in Colombia .“ “Here, there is something good that we are seeing and that is that there are multiple brands that are managing to put coffee at the center of homes as a trend,” Escobar concluded.
By Diana Delgado
