Juan Valdez seeks new CEO as Camila Escobar steps down

Camila Escobar’s exit is more than a routine handoff at Juan Valdez. The move, announced April 15 and taking effect April 30, left Colombia’s most famous coffee brand searching for a new chief executive just as it was coming off record 2025 revenues.

Procafecol said Escobar’s departure was her own decision after nearly eight years leading the company, and said she had fulfilled a strategic mission centered on transformation and stronger global positioning. Carlos Arturo Azuero Perdomo, the company’s current president and board member, took over as interim executive chairman while the board began what it called a structured and transparent search, supported by specialized advisers.

The succession matters because Juan Valdez is not just another café chain. Founded in 2002 by Colombia’s National Federation of Coffee Growers through Procafecol, the brand first expanded outside Colombia in 2005 with a store in Washington and, by late 2024, had reached 40 countries. The company said it now has more than 370 stores in Colombia and more than 220 in 20 other countries. Escobar is expected to become executive director of Colfuturo after leaving the coffee company.

The next chief inherits a business with real momentum. Procafecol reported first-half 2025 revenue of 406.278 billion pesos, up 16 percent from a year earlier, then nine-month revenue of 637.832 billion pesos, up 18 percent, with net profit of 56.290 billion pesos through September. The company also said 2025 profit reached 21.991 billion pesos. It made its largest annual contribution ever to the National Coffee Fund that year, at 51.824 billion pesos, pushing cumulative historical contributions past 255.760 billion pesos.

At the same time, Juan Valdez is pushing harder outside its home market. The brand struck a joint venture with Grupo Trinity that gives the venture exclusive rights for seven years to open 140 stores in Spain, building on the six Juan Valdez shops already operating in Madrid. The company also has talked up a target of 16 stores in Miami and Orlando by 2025. That leaves the next CEO with a clear assignment: keep the brand anchored to Colombian coffee growers while scaling a global consumer business that now carries far more weight than a typical management change.