Ramiro L. Colon (1940-1980) born in Ponce, Puerto Rico, is credited with having saved the coffee industry in Puerto Rico.
Colon was raised in the countryside of Ponce, where he obtained his primary and secondary education. Being raised in the country, he was to developed an intense love for the islands' agriculture. He went to work for the "Cooperativa de Cafeteros de Puerto Rico" (Cooperative of Coffee Growers of Puerto Rico), in 1925, the same year it was founded at the age of 21.
The cooperative was the first one of its kind in Puerto Rico. It was founded to protect the coffee industry, which was one of the islands most important export products, from outside imitators. The situation was the following; many merchants were importing coffee from other countries, of poor quality and freshness and passing them off as locally produced. When tourists and local consumers tasted the coffee, they complained about how bad it was and the coffee industry of Puerto Rico suffered greatly because of the bad reputation it was gaining which also caused a drastic decline in sales.
In 1928, Huracane San Felipe, destroyed most of the coffee plantations in the island and the Great Depression which swept the world also affected the economy of Puerto Rico.
In 1932, Colon was named general manager of the cooperative and took it upon himself the reorganization of the company during its time of crisis. The cooperative was almost bankrupt and the first thing Colon did was to obtain a loan from the Department of Agriculture and Comerence. With the money, he brought new equipment which would replace the old and out dated ones in the company. Colon was able to convince the Puerto Rican legislature to pass a law against the adultaration and contraband of coffee that was going on in the island.
Colon was credited with convincing the government to impose taxes on the coffee that was imported from other countries, therefore making sure that the island would not be invaded with cheap coffee of poor quality, which often was advertized as locally produced. The cooperative purchased and installed a new torrefaction plant in which the local coffee was processed. Colon set out to gain access in the American coffee market. He helped the local coffee growers obtain lines of credit from local bankers and he also was able to get financial help from the federal and local government for the exportation of the coopaeratives coffee. The cooperative's coffee was named "Cafe Rico" and was well received locally and internationally. The good fame of Puerto Rico's coffee was soon reestablished worldwide. The cooperative became the first coffee manufacturer to sell its coffee in sealed cans. The quality of Cafe Rico has received numerous medals and recognitions in contests celebrated all over the world.
In the 1950s Ramiro L. Colon was named Administrator of the cooperative, position which he held until his retirement in 1965. Colon established the first and only coffee tasting laboratory in Puerto Rico. One of Cafe Rico's byproducts "San Carlos Selection" is the official coffee of the Vatican.
Under Colon's leadership, the cooperative was able to expand and diversify. The company sells food and agricultural equipment with sales of over $5 million. It also owns and operates an egg processing company which calls its product "Huevos Rico" (Rich Eggs). The cooperative owns an insurance company and its own credit corporation, which grants loans to farmers. The cooperative has its own printing plant which prints and distributes an agricultural magazine worldwide. Recently, the cooperative has started to operate gasoline stations in San Juan, Mayaguez and Ponce.
When Colon took over the company in 1932 as a general manager the cooperative had only $284,000 in annual sales. By 1963 the cooperative had over $35 million in sales.
The cooperative has offices and warehouses in Ponce (main offices), San Juan, Mayaguez, Arecibo, Yauco, San Sebastian, Utuado, Adjuntas, Jayuya and Ciales.
Ramiro L. Colon died in the city of Ponce ; honoring him by naming a high school after him. He is remembered as the man who saved the puertorican coffee industry.
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