Scoot Over, Starbucks

The real goal is to revitalize the perception of Colombian coffee. Labels on some Juan Valdez products note that the beans are "the primary source of income for more than 500,000 peasant families in Colombia." The U.S. cafes will stress the chain's vertical integration "from the tree to the cup." That altruistic spin could play well in a marketplace where do-gooder brands like Green Mountain and Equal Exchange have captured consumers' attention — and dollars.

The tough question for the Colombians: Will going high and low end work simultaneously? They want coffee sophisticates to be attracted to their cafes. But they also want the broad masses to buy co-branded Colombian coffee in the supermarket. "The key with rebranding," says Mindy Sabella, chief marketing officer at brand-strategy firm Addison, "is you can't occupy two positions at the same time." Despite the cafe initiative, the only place most of us will encounter a Juan Valdez logo is on a coffee can.