Colombia’s Juan Valdez coffee brand is arriving in Nicaragua. While Nicaraguan businessmen dismiss the brand is a threat to Nicaraguan coffee, they do admit that there will be a strong competition.
“In today’s globalized markets it is common for competitors to appear to us from other countries. The same is our goal, also to be able to compete in the global market. Our category is already competitive and we will continue to strive to maintain a leading position,” says Gian Marco Palazio, president of Café Las Flores, told El Nuevo Diario.
A similar opinion is expressed by Carlos Bendaña, president of the Association of Specialty Coffee of Nicaragua (ACEN); Aura Lila Sevilla, president of the National Alliance of Coffee Growers of Nicaragua (ANCN); the producer Henry Hüeck, with coffee farms in Matagalpa, Jinotega and Nueva Segovia; and the president of the Association of Producers and Exporters of Nicaragua (APEN), Guillermo Jacoby.
The Nicaraguans are confident that they can overcome the Colombian newcomer when it lands this week, as the new imported coffee will be in the country’s supermarkets and in the Managua international airport (MGA), with the goal of being distributed in at least 120 commercial points.
The Juan Valdez website does not yet list Nicaragua as a point of sale.
Article originally appeared on Today Nicaragua and is republished here with permission.
