Colombia’s largest coffeehouse chain Juan Valdez Cafe approved Wednesday the creation of its first international franchise, which will begin opening and operating stores in Panama and Aruba, Colombian media reported.
JV Panama S.A, the company’s new franchise, will open 13 stores with an initial investment of $3 million.
“Panama has great potential because it is a territory with great cultural affinity to Colombia, it has great recognition of the Juan Valdez brand, its rate of economic growth is interesting (GDP $44.36 billion), and is a commercial hub of Latin America,” said President of JV Panama S.A. Carlos Gallegos.
Gallegos also explained that Aruba is a particularly desirable location for Juan Valdez stores because of its booming tourism industry and its coffee consumption rate per capita, which is among the highest in the world.
Juan Valdez already has 41 stores open abroad, but they are operated by the Colombian company or an affiliate. These new franchise stores will be the first of their kind, as they will control themselves and provide their own capital.