The National Federation of Coffee Growers of Colombia, (), abbreviated as Colombian Coffee Growers Federation or Fedecafé, is a non-profit business organization, popularly known for its "Juan Valdez" marketing campaign. The Federation was founded in 1927 as a business association that promotes production and exportation of Colombian coffee. It currently represents over 540,000 producers, most of whom are small family owned farms. While many factors contributed to the impressive increase in production and revenue, the rise and success of the Colombian coffee industry reflects the Federation's rigid adherence to the three objectives which were originally offered to justify its creation: 1) to protect the industry, 2) to study its problems, and 3) to further its interests. The Federation supports research and development in the production of coffee through grants to local universities and through Federation sponsored research institutes. The Federation also monitors production to ensure export quality standards are met. The highly successful Juan Valdez branding concept was launched in 1960 to distinguish 100% Colombian coffee from coffee blended with beans from other countries. The trademark character made its debut on a whole-page ad in the Sunday edition of The New York Times on January 6, 1960, featuring a country farmer (campesino) carrying coffee on his mule Conchita. In November 2019, the Federation received the Distinguished Leadership Award for Social Equity from the Inter-American Dialogue. The award was presented by the vice president of Colombia, Marta Lucía Ramírez. The arrival of coffee in Colombia First cultivated in the Dutch East Indies, the species of Coffea arabica came to Americas around the year 1690. The Dutch sent the coffee seeds to their colonies in Surinam, and thereafter to the French Guiana and Brazil. The French, through other routes, took it to Guadeloupe and Martinique, their main two colonies in the Caribbean. It seems that the Jesuits were the first to introduce seeds of coffee in the "Nueva Granada" (today Colombia) by the year 1723. The first experiments in growing coffee in Colombia are recorded in the 18th century. Although some coffee plantations were initiated during the first half of the 19th century, it was not until the second half of the Century that the coffee industry was consolidated as an economic generator of employment, wealth, and hard currencies. Coffee seeds arrived late in Colombia, compared with other Latin American countries. According to historians, the first seeds came in through Cúcuta, coming