My obsession with coffee started with my father. I was born and raised in Cartagena, a magical town in Colombia, along the Caribbean Sea, but my father is from Armenia, Quindío in the Eje Cafetero, or the Coffee Axis and he used to explain how I came from a small department (State) in size yet very big in coffee.
My country is home to Juan Valdez, a character of our nation’s coffee federation, the Federación Nacional de Cafeteros or FNC, created in 1960 with the renowned advertising agency Doyle Dane Bernach, now known as DDB, to win the world over with Colombian coffee. Thousands of Colombian farmers have and continue to be represented with the logo of our nation’s coffee federation and we all remember with joy how Juan Valdez was recognized in 2005 at the New York Advertising Week as the world’s most recognized icon — beating Tony the Tiger, the Michelin man and the M&M’s characters, at a time where social media was not what it is today.
Juan Valdez and the FNC have done an amazing job in creating an excellent reputation for Colombian coffee in the international market. They have also been very successful in placing large volumes of Colombian coffee among the world’s largest traders and other middlemen that serve coffee roasters, coffee shops and fast-food chains like Folgers, Starbucks, McDonalds and Dunkin’ Donuts. Through strong marketing efforts, the FNC has also been very successful in educating the world about the quality of Colombian coffee and they have created a market need for good Colombian coffee. Therefore, it is not surprising that, since I moved to the United States, friends and colleagues often ask me to recommend good Colombian coffee.
After more than 12 years living in the United States, I chose coffee to connect with my origins in Colombia to answer my calling to recommend good Colombian coffee with my community in the United States. My dream with Colibri Mountain Coffee is to fill every single home in North America with Colombian energy and joy -- directly from farm to cup. Please join me!