Origin trips are an essential part of what we do at North Star Coffee Roasters. They keep us accountable. They ensure our values are aligned with those of our supply partners. And they allow us to experience, first-hand, the impact of the relationships we choose to build.

Over the past few years, we’ve been fortunate to visit long-term producer partners and review projects we’ve supported as a business. Each trip has offered insight. Each has reinforced why we exist. But my most recent visit to San Agustín, Colombia felt different. It just hit differently.

Perhaps it was the contrast. I arrived in Colombia straight from four days in Brazil - a powerhouse of coffee production where scale dominates the landscape. San Agustín, by comparison, is intimate. Smallholder plots cling to hillsides. Families process coffee at home. Production is measured not in vast lots, but in carefully tended micro-millimetres of progress. The juxtaposition was stark. And powerful.

As we enter our second year working with Canadian import partner Semilla, we were keen to deepen our understanding of the Monkaaba smallholder empowerment initiative they support. There is only so much you can learn through samples and spreadsheets. To truly understand the model, we needed boots on the ground.

A Project Run by Producers, For Producers

Monkaaba was founded and is run by Esnaider Ortega-Gomez and Didier Ortega - two young producers born into generational coffee farming families in and around San Agustín. They are not external organisers or buyers looking in. They are sons, brothers, neighbours, friends. They are deeply woven into the social and cultural fabric of the community.

From the ground up, they have built Monkaaba to support smallholder farmers in the region. They oversee warehouse operations and logistics, but their role goes far beyond processing and exporting coffee. Their mission is to ensure producers receive genuine recognition for their work and unlock the true value of their coffee in the marketplace.

At its core, Monkaaba is a project run by producers, for producers. That distinction matters. It creates a level of trust that cannot be manufactured.

Creating a New Normal

Before Monkaaba, many producers in the region faced a familiar and disheartening reality. Well-known buyers failed to reflect quality in the price paid. Recognition was limited to quality control metrics, not the immense skill and labour behind each lot. Some bodegas closed their doors as coffee prices rose, leaving farmers with fewer options and little security.

Monkaaba exists to create a new normal.

Its goal is not simply to find a better market (though it does that). It aims to build a system rooted in respect - where producers are paid solid, sustainable prices and are supported in developing their knowledge and skills to secure future success. Where transparency is mutual. Where recognition extends beyond cupping scores and reaches the end consumer.

This combination - fair pricing, shared information, and genuine respect - forms the basis of a more resilient value chain. One that benefits everyone, from farm to roastery to cup.

A Bond Unlike Any Other

Throughout the week in San Agustín, one thing became abundantly clear: the bond within this community is extraordinary.

Producers repeatedly referred to themselves as family. And it didn’t feel performative - it felt deeply real. There is a closeness that runs through the group, an emotional connection built on trust and shared experience. It fosters belonging. It strengthens resilience. It allows them to navigate the many challenges of coffee production with empathy and mutual respect.

At North Star, we talk often about building meaningful emotional connections with our customers. For the Monkaaba producers, that sense of connection is second nature. It underpins everything they do.

It was a privilege to witness it.

Gratitude and Looking Ahead

The commitment and dedication shown by Esnaider and Didier is truly inspiring. They are not only building a better commercial model; they are nurturing a support network that genuinely cares about the long-term prosperity of its members. I don’t think I’ve ever cried as much as I laughed on an origin trip - it was emotional, joyful, humbling and hopeful in equal measure.

We are hugely grateful to Wilts Marx and Patrick Latreille of Semilla for facilitating such an eye-opening glimpse into an alternative way of selling coffee in Colombia - one that rewards smaller, generational producers for stepping outside of the traditional system and ensures they are finally seen and valued on a global stage.

North Star is incredibly proud to have been the first roastery to bring these coffees to the UK market. We’re eagerly awaiting the arrival of the next container at The Roast Works, including the return of the La Colmena field blend alongside a selection of standout micro-lots from the Monkaaba producers I had the pleasure of getting to know.

These are special coffees from special producers. When they land later this year, we’ll do our utmost to honour their work and tell their story with the care and respect it deserves.