Being Juan Valdez

A "Colombian idol"-style search transformed a humble farmer into the 21st century version of TV's coffee icon. Meet the man behind the mule.

By Matthew Fishbane

Oct. 16, 2007 | You know Juan Valdez: He's been the rugged, mustachioed icon of Colombian coffee since 1960. That's when a Madison Avenue ad agency, realizing the potential of campesino cachet, invented a name even gringos could pronounce, and hired an actor to play the role of a humble coffee grower. The TV commercials asked, "Where do the beans come from?" and Juan Valdez would answer, strolling through lushly planted hills, "I hand-picked them myself."

Last year, in a passing-the-poncho ceremony widely publicized in Colombia, the National Federation of Coffee Growers of Colombia introduced the new, improved Juan Valdez: a 38-year-old farmer from the village of Andes. Carlos Castañeda was the real deal, a third-generation coffee grower with a seven-acre farm and two cows. He was chosen after an elaborate, reality TV-style search that involved competitors in a variety of games and tests -- a bizarre mash-up of "Colombian Idol" and "Survivor."

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