BONNERS FERRY — On Sept. 6, Yoder’s Market hosted a grand opening celebration for the Seven Seeds Coffee Roasters. They have utilized a corner of the deli area to bring in an espresso coffee stand, bolstering the variety of services for customers.

Seven Seeds is owned and operated by Micah and Nancy Smith, who operate the coffee buying and roasting portion of the business, while their family, Benjamin and Hannah Phillips, focuses on the brewing and customer service portion of the business.

The Smiths do humanitarian work around the world, building children’s homes, drilling water wells, and putting together medical teams, among various other things.

“Most of the places we work are around the equator, and we noticed that they grow coffee,” said Micah Smith.

The coffee comes from the ‘Golden Triangle,’ which is located in the meeting points of Burma, Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam.

In this general area, there is an indigenous hill tribe that has been accustomed to drug production and high crime rates. Through the work of missionaries and a variety of helping sources, the community was guided toward another form of income.

“The governments and people started working together and started helping these people get into a cash crop that wasn’t illegal, and coffee did very well,” said Micah Smith.

Seven Seeds supports Doi Chaang Coffee and the Abonzo family with their production of quality coffee beans, in addition to supporting the communities both here and overseas — in turn increasing their quality of life.

“It is a partnership,” said Micah Smith. “We buy the coffee from these people and help support a better lifestyle.”

The green coffee beans are sent to the Smiths or they make a trip to the source to pick them up.

“We have spent a lot of time in their coffee plantation in Doi Chaang,” said Micah Smith. “It’s really a philosophy of from tree to cup and our vision statement is making friends through coffee.”

The family has lived in Bonners Ferry since 2007 and over that time they have made various mission trips around the world.

“We are faith based, and our faith is what motivates us; however there is a real human dimension to us that we see people’s lives improve,” said Micah Smith. “So that’s what we do, we want people to be able to live better. It’s worked very well, so here we are in north Idaho with coffee beans from the Doi Chaang mountains, which in Thai language, means Elephant Mountains.”

Customers can visit Yoder’s Market between 7 a.m. and 2 p.m. Monday through Saturday to visit Seven Seeds and enjoy a fresh cup of joe and friendly conversation.

“Our mission for the future is to help this guy grow his coffee growing business and produce a really good cup of coffee or roasted coffee beans locally.”