NEW YORK, NY, October 1, 2003 – The National Federation of Coffee Growers of Colombia announced that Juan Esteban Orduz has been appointed president of Colombian Coffee Federation Inc., its subsidiary in New York. As the top representative of the Federation in North America, Mr. Orduz will oversee the organization’s business, marketing and public affairs activities in the region.  

Mr. Orduz joins the Federation after spending a year as Fellow at the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs at Harvard University.  Prior to that, he was Minister, Deputy Chief of Mission of the Embassy of Colombia to the United States in Washington, DC.  Mr. Orduz also served as an advisor to the former Colombian President Andrés Pastrana, the Minister of Economic Development, as well as legal vice-president of Cemex S.A. in Colombia. He also held the post of Consul General of Colombia in Frankfurt, Germany, and has been a member of the board of several companies in Colombia.  

Mr. Orduz succeeds Luis Fernando Samper as head of the Federation’s New York office. Mr. Samper has been appointed to the position of director general, intellectual property, at the Federation’s headquarters in Bogotá.

The Federation also appointed Mary Petitt as executive vice-president. Ms. Petitt joined the Federation in 1995 and has directed the successful 100% Colombian Coffee program since 1998.  She currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Specialty Coffee Association of America and is a trustee of the Coffee Quality Institute.  She is also active with the National Coffee Association and the Green Coffee Association of New York City.

About the National Federation of Coffee Growers of Colombia

The National Federation of Coffee Growers of Colombia, a non-profit organization, seeks to raise the standard of living for more than 560,000 Colombian coffee farmers and their communities through the cultivation and worldwide promotion of Colombian Coffee – the richest coffee in the world®. The Federation invests profits from the sale of Colombian coffee in social programs that benefit millions of Colombians, helping to develop roads, schools, electric power supplies, housing, and health care centers.  

Since 1927, the Federation has set the highest international standards for the quality of green coffee and has been the driving force for the social welfare of more than 560,000 Colombian coffee growers.

Contacts:
Julia Gusakova:  jgusakova@webershandwick.com - Weber Shandwick
Karina Argudo: kargudo@juanvaldez.com - Colombian Coffee Federation