Juan Valdez

The first to play Juan Valdez in 1960 was actor Jose Duval.  It was said that the character of Valdez captured the American Imagination with the traditionally dressed peasant, sombrero and all.  Leading his mule down the tree covered mountain sides of Colombia with a hand picked sack of beans.

Even though Juan was a character made up by the Coffee Federation in Colombia, he was really was the image of a typical man of whom which headed small mountainside farms.  It was also true that all of the coffee was, and still is, carried down the mountains on mule back, although eventually transported by freight trains.

In 1960, Juan was on full page newspaper adds in ten major markets in North America.

One of the first adds read:

"We don't know who's more stubborn-- Juan Valdez or his mule"

These adds went on to explain the importance of rainfall and temperature in the mountains of Colombia, therefore making the Colombian cup of coffee the one to drink.

Soon, the Federation of Colombia Coffee Growers would spend $1 Million a year to bring Juan to TV.

-Five months after his debut on television, there was a 300% rise in the number of coffee consumers who identified Colombian coffee as the best in the world.

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