Juan Valdez currently operates 590 stores globally, including more than 200 in international markets | Photo credit: Juan Valdez

Bogotá-based Juan Valdez has set its sights on entering Brazil and China by 2030 as part of plans to build a presence in fast developing coffee consuming countries. 
 

Speaking to Bloomberg Linea, Juan Valdez CEO Camila Escobar Corredor said the brand will seek to tap into the Brazilian and Chinese retail packaged coffee markets before opening bricks-and-mortar sites – a strategy that has proved successful in markets such as Turkey and Kuwait. 

“Brazil and China are two giant coffee consumption markets in which we soon hope, in the coming years to have a presence. In 2025 we will likely see encryption in supermarkets in these countries – opening stores will probably take longer to execute,” she said. 

The Colombian coffee chain currently operates 590 stores globally, including more than 200 across 18 international markets. 

Juan Valdez’s near-term focus is to consolidate its presence in existing markets, including Ecuador, Chile, Turkey, Spain, the US and Mexico – where the coffee chain re-established its presence in March 2024. In total, Juan Valdez expects to open 100 new stores this year, at least 75 of which will be international markets.   

Brazil is by far the largest coffee consuming country in South America, according to data from the International Coffee Organization (ICO), accounting for 82% of the region’s coffee consumption in 2022/23 – roughly 22.5 million bags of 60kg coffee. 

The ICO’s Coffee Report and Outlook found China imported three million 60kg bags of coffee last year – making it the fifth largest market in Asia for coffee consumption per annual 60kg bags imported, behind Japan, Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines.

However, the country is among the fastest growing in the region for coffee consumption alongside Indonesia and Malaysia. Highlighting increased demand for coffee in China, the country’s largest coffee chain Luckin Coffee signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (ApexBrasil) in June 2024 to purchase 120,000 tons of coffee over the next two years – a deal worth approximately $500m.