Harvard Business Review LogoRicardo Pinzón HidalgoProcafecol was created in the early 2000s to bring the Juan Valdez brand to retail consumers. The company has recently entered a new stage of global growth, maintaining its strength in ColombiaWhen I joined Procafecol seven years ago it was ready for a new stage of global growth. Our company, created by Colombia’s National Federation of Coffee Growers (FNC) in the early 2000s to bring the Juan Valdez brand to retail consumers, had a strong foundation in our home market. But over the years we’d expanded into almost 40 other markets, from as nearby as Aruba to as far away as Australia.A version of this article appeared in the July–August 2026 issue of Harvard Business Review.
The Former CEO of Procafecol on Building a Global Growth Strategy for Juan Valdez Coffee
Procafecol was created in the early 2000s to bring the Juan Valdez brand to retail consumers. The company has recently entered a new stage of global growth, maintaining its strength in Colombia but paring down its foreign priorities to five markets, with the goal of significantly increasing international sales. The strategy is built on disciplined selection, joint ventures that keep brand control, and a plan to scale at the right pace in each place. To execute this shift, Procafecol reemphasized its values, reorganized its executive team around regional clusters, and chose partners with aligned mindsets.
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