Project Origin is a company that uses green coffee beans to empower people, so together we can change the world we see.
Throughout our history we have met hundreds of extraordinary people from all over the world. We have supplied roasters and baristas with a substantial variety of coffees, invested in dozens of community projects that improve the livelihoods of individuals and communities, and developed new processing techniques that can both build better economic sustainability for producers and offer consumers a whole new range of flavour experiences. All of these accomplishments have been possible thanks to the heart and mind of our founder, Saša Šestić, and by how he responded to that question.
“Can you try a sample of my family’s coffee?” When Pathy Kasiviswanathan first visited Saša at the ONA headquarters in 2010, he simply wanted a review on his family’s coffees to help him begin a wholesale trade of green beans in Australia. Thalanar Estate is a coffee producing farm in South India that sold its beans as a commodity product to the local mill, meaning the beans were mixed with a range of other green beans from other farms, and no-one really knew where it ended up. Saša agreed to try the samples, and when he did, he considered the coffees to taste perhaps better than the Indian coffee he was currently using. This was a positive tasting – but to Saša’s surprise, Pathy had never before tasted these coffees himself! In fact, no one at the farm knew what it was they were producing. Saša and ONA coffee were already buying coffees directly from some producers, but this opportunity saw the potential to invest in more than direct trade green beans.
N.B. Regarding the discount: unfortunately the vacuum packaging on this lot was compromised and by the time we came around to releasing it the green had started to show some signs of fading/age. It's still a lovely coffee expressing good varietal and processing typicity, not an accurate representation however of what it could have otherwise been.
Villamaría's processing station, Jamaica, was chosen due to its perfect climate and altitude for the drying of naturally processed coffee. Alongside this, the large space available meant that producing high-quality naturals at scale was a possibility not available before.
As the project gained speed, roasters worldwide began to buy long-term from Villamaría, and neighbouring communities were able to see the merits of selling cherry to La Aurora, the delivery and buying point for Jamaica, instead of parchment to a nearby trilladora. The sale of whole cherries to a processing station is a method uncommon in Colombia but seen in many other coffee-producing countries.
We can see that the communities including Villarazo, La Batea and Corozal have been positively affected by the existence of Jamaica. Today, we see a continued increase of producers delivering their cherry to La Aurora, which is also a contributing farm managed by Rubiel Orrego. Like many coffee producers in Colombia, producers of Villamaría had historically been promised higher prices and the purchase of a farmer's entire crop by large institutions in the past. Having never delivered on this promise, understandably faith in new ventures had greatly diminished amongst producers.
La Batea means the valley in English and is an area of Villamaria where its incredibly steep hills provide a unique microclimate. Here, cold air currents swoop down from the snowy mountains of Santa Isabel and Volcan Nevado del Ruiz, improving air quality, circulation, and pollination, whilst cooling the air temperature that surrounds the growing cherries!
Raw sugar, shortbread and fresh lychees.
Farm: Granja Paraíso 92
Producer: Wilton Benitez
Country: Colombia
Region: Piendamo, Cauca
Elevation: 1,750 masl
Variety: Colombia
Processing: Controlled Washed
Sourced Through: Far More
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Wilton Benitez is a highly specialised Colombian coffee producer with a lifetime of experience in the production and processing of exotic coffee, with a plethora of awards for the quality of his coffees. Today Wilton has a processing plant in the Department of Cauca and two small farms (one in Cauca and the other in Risaralda). His farms meet the highest standards of quality and control and social practice. Granja Paraíso 92 is a family farm that has different varieties such as Java, Bourbon Pink, Geisha, Pacamara, Caturra, Tabi, Castillo, Supremo and Colombia. They use highly innovative cultivation systems such as terraces and drip irrigation. It has its own laboratories to calculate all the details from shade to nutrition with scientific efficiency - all aimed at producing incredibly unique and aromatic coffees.
This lot is a 'controlled washed' fermentation and uses coffee cherries that Wilton purchases from neighbouring farmers.
The processes applied to the different coffees start from a strict selection, sterilisation and characterisation of the cherry. Next is the first phase of controlled anaerobic fermentation, where a specific microorganism is added for each process. After that, the coffee is pulped and subjected to a second fermentation phase which is followed by a bean sealing process that is carried out through impacts of hot and cold water to improve the organoleptic conditions of the coffee.
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