Move over, Starbucks. Juan Valdez Cafe plans expansion thru US, EU

[Ah Xoc Kin]

BOGOTA, Colombia -Starbucks may be struggling, but a Colombian cafe chain built on the fame of the world's biggest coffee icon is determined to buck the trend with plans to expand worldwide despite the slowing economy that has forced others to scale back.

Even as cash-short consumers cut back on gourmet blends, the Juan Valdez Cafe is selling coffee at 101 stores across Colombia, as well as at outposts in New York, Seattle, Philadelphia, Santiago, and Spain.

It plans to add 500 more shops across the U.S., Latin America and Europe by 2010.

The Bogota-based chain has a unique premise: its shops are owned not by investors, but by 22,600 coffee-growing shareholders who opened them to advertise the beans they sell, not to make a profit.

Although some of its drinks cost the same as those sold by other high-end retailers, many cost less: the chain charges $1.57 for a single espresso at its stores in New York City - about 17 percent less than Starbucks while a small cappuccio and medium drip coffee sell for 6 percent and 7 percent below Starbucks' prices.

http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2008/10/16/ap5562234.html