As a business graduate, Rodrigo Castillo wanted to connect his native Colombia with the industrious spirit of Germany. With Colombia's rich coffee tradition, he knew that bringing the best Colombian coffee to Berlin and learning the roasting craft from scratch was the way to go.

Starting with this idea, he founded North Andes Coffee to offer quality coffee directly from a Colombian. Rodrigo built a network of logistics and partnerships through his personal connections in Colombia. He learned the art of roasting from Stefan Bracht, a passionate German roaster. His goal was to reach the final consumer directly. As a people person, Rodrigo wanted to meet and know who was enjoying his coffee, so he made a coffee trailer to offer his brews. By attending weekly markets, he learned the best way to serve people and discovered what they appreciated about his product.

This experience led him to open his first store during the pandemic in 2021. It was a risk, but he believed in his vision. After a successful launch and listening to customers at Weissensee (where he went for the weekly market), he planned to open a second store in 2023. With hard work, he made it happen and also achieved an important milestone: opening his own roastery. In early 2024, he roasted his first batch at the newly established North Andes Roastery. This was a big deal for him because having his own roastery allows him to produce the best coffee possible.

Thanks to all this hard work, North Andes can now offer top-quality coffee from Colombia, made by a Colombian. Rodrigo hopes you can taste the effort in every sip you take.