Colombia quickly grasped the power of marketing in the coffee world, and used this leverage to establish its coffee as a global benchmark. Juan Valdez was born in 1958.

The legend Juan Valdez

Juan Valdez is a fictional character created by the FNC, the National Federation of Coffee Growers of Colombia. The goal of creating Juan Valdez and his mule Conchita was to promote Colombian coffee through all kinds of advertising, contrasting 100% Colombian coffee blends with blends from various origins. Over time, Juan Valdez became a Colombian icon, just like Colombian coffee itself, and became a sensation in the United States. Ultimately, after hammering home slogans like "100% Colombian Coffee" and "Mountain Grown Coffee," Colombia and its coffee secured a special place in the minds of coffee drinkers worldwide. This popularity continues to this day!

The FNC, a major architect of Colombian success

The Colombian Coffee Federation (FNC) was created in 1927 and is one of the greatest contributors to the prosperity of the coffee industry in Colombia. This organization is unique in the world due to its size and complexity. Indeed, many countries have organizations involved in coffee exports or promotion, but none in so many different areas as the FNC.

Initially created to defend the interests of producers, this private, non-profit organization is funded by a tax levied on all coffee exports. Colombia is the world's third ^- largest producer, so it goes without saying that the FNC is very well-funded. It is owned and managed by its 500,000 members, making it a massive bureaucratic machine, essential to its operation. While it is obviously heavily involved in all aspects of finance and marketing, it is also deeply involved in communities throughout the country. Building roads, schools, and hospitals, as well as investing in related infrastructure, all contribute to its significant role in the country's overall development.

A major player, but one that sometimes divides opinion.

The FNC (National Coffee Federation) isn't universally popular in Colombia, and some voices are being raised against it. Indeed, part of the industry criticizes the FNC for prioritizing quantity over quality. We'll discuss this further in another blog post, but there is a research division within the FNC called Cenicafé. This research center works to create disease-resistant coffee varieties (for example, through genetic crossbreeding). Its latest creation, Castillo, is accused of prioritizing quantity over quality in the cup. Unfortunately for its detractors, in the current context of climate change, diseases are spreading more rapidly, and it will soon be difficult to do without more resistant plants.

Another point of contention concerns us, the coffee consumers, more directly. Alongside the promotion of Colombian coffee undertaken for nearly a century by the FNC (National Coffee Federation), they created the terms "Supremo" and "Excelso." It's crucial to understand that these terms refer to bean sizes, not quality. The problem with these labels is the traceability of the coffee. Coffee sold under these labels can come from numerous farms and be blended before being mechanically sorted. Therefore, these terms are useless when buying coffee, as they represent nothing in terms of quality.