Who said that Starbucks would drive Juan Valdez out of business? Here in the Centro Internacional, the two cafés operate side-by-side, and both seem to be doing okay. I don't know the prices, but have been told that Starbucks appeals to a higher-income market. These two, however, appeared to have pretty similar clientele: businessy-looking people pecking at laptops or staring at their smartphones.
At least, they're both serving up Colombian beans, even if the farmer likely gets only a drop from each cup.
Coffee, it's worth noting, was a big productivity booster when introduced in Holland centuries ago and replaced beer, which wasn't great for productivity.
According to their websites, there are 106 Juan Valdez cafés in Bogotá and 10 Starbucks.
By Mike Ceaser, of Bogotá Bike Tours
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2 comments:
I think they should be promoting coffee from other parts of the world. Colombians have been drinking their own stuff for far too long.
BTW I much prefer Valdez's hot chocolate to Starbucks'.
Actually, Colombia imports lots of coffee, but cheap coffee, from Brazil, Ecuador, even Vietnam.
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