#pact team

Pact is a coffee startup run by 12 coffee-loving friends. We are passionate about making our customers’ lives better by introducing them to fresh coffee, and delighting them whenever we’re given the opportunity.

As we’ve grown, we’ve faced new challenges. We moved out of my dining room and into our first Grown-Up Office back in February, when a busy day meant sending 25 bags of coffee after a looong queue at the Post Office.

Pact is a different place today - we’re regularly shipping 1,000 packs of coffee in a day and are growing faster by the day. It’s exciting, but there is more to juggle than ever before. Previously infrequent tasks like hiring, finance, promotions and office admin are a daily occurrence, and we need the right person to help us keep up!

Hi! My name is Gabrielle, and I'm in the midst of Pact to distribute great coffee!  I'll drink coffee all day. I'm almost tempted to forsake water for it (although, a cup of coffee is 98.7% water, on average!).

My earliest memories of it are cloth filtered brews in tall steel pots on my grandmother's hob way back home in Brazil. Back then, I had no idea the coffee industry existed–and ironically enough, Brazil is the world's largest exporter of coffee!–nor that I would come to love it as I do. So much so, that my fervent wish is to make everyone love it, too! I find that coffee is a good excuse for any occasion, from social gatherings, to a moment alone, to study, to work, to not work, and mainly, for palatable enjoyment.  My background lies in graphic design, but I've chosen to find and relentlessly consume and share fantastic coffee instead.  I've got a number of odd hobbies and habits, such as playing air drums, or doing things in multiples of three. I'm on to my third (!) month at Pact, and am happy to report that I'll be ensuring your coffee is as amazing as ever. 

In this series, we’re asking the Pact community about their coffee rituals, if you’d like to be featured, you can find out more here!

What's your name and Twitter handle?

The name is Maniaci, Stéphane Maniaci. (@stephane__)

How long have you been with Pact?

It's been 6 months already

What's your favourite brew method?

At home I make cafetière. At Pact HQ I live on espressos.

What's your favourite time of day to make a coffee, and why?

I really love making my cup of coffee first thing in the morning. Not just because it means I managed to woke up, but also because the house is quiet, my thoughts are quiet, it's a very precious and personal moment.

Who introduced you to coffee?

Nespresso... but you know, I had just moved to Paris for my first job, people were always having their little capsules in the morning. But I got to know the art of coffee (and the actual taste) at Pact for sure.

On what day does your coffee taste best, and why?

A good cup of coffee is your best ally on Mondays.

What album goes best with a good cup of coffee?

Serge Gainsbourg - Histoire de Melody Nelson ; it's a very interesting album, quiet at some points, loud at others, with some very sophisticated tracks and Serge Gainsbourg always whispering the storyline in a deep, calm voice. It's a little tricky to last the cup for 27 minutes, but I manage.

Who would be your favourite celebrity, dead or alive, to make a coffee for?

Stephen Rapoport! Or Pierre Desproges. Either way, my coffee-making skills are not good enough yet, but I practice a lot

What problem can be solved with coffee?

I think it can be a remarkable brain catalyst. I read somewhere about the different creative processes of famous writers/artists, and one of them (Marcel Proust?) would just do cup on cup waking up at 4AM... And he wrote an acclaimed, classic french novel! That almost no one read. I think if you have a good relationship with your coffee you can think much better.

If coffee could give you a superpower, what would it be?

A superpower?! It keeps me awake, that's amazing enough. Flying maybe. With every sip you feel more aware, energy builds up, you start running, you outstretch your wings... and then the Overground is late.

My name is Tony and I've joined Pact to look after Technology and marry that up with the Product.

I used to drink coffee for the caffeine kick, but that was back at University, you know, those late nights in the library?! But now I'm a grown up, I've come to appreciate food, red wine and fresh coffee. With fresh coffee comes lots of flavours, and I'm excited to introduce and delivery those flavours to every home in the country.

My background is in Software development, so I write 10010111010010111010110 and stuff. Along side that, I am an endurance sports junkie, with my next challenge being a 70.3 mile Ironman. Yikes!

I'm at Pact because I love fresh coffee and I want fresh coffee to appear in your kitchen counter without you having to think about it. So you wake up, make your brew and sip. Doesn't that sound great?

Having been at Pact for a month, I already feel like part of the furniture.I'll share a secret with you, Zach didn't pack all your coffee, I packed some too, but he gets to sign it.

    Hi, I'm Pete and I will be looking after Customer Service and Community at Pact. I joined Pact partly because I love helping customers with any questions they might have, and partly because I believe that Pact can finally be the company to end the reign of instant coffee over our homes.

    As I am finishing my second week at Pact, I can't help but reflect on all the things that have already happened during my short time here; the amount of amazing customers I've interacted with, over email, phone and when they popped into the office; the amount of new customers we had, who I thought were going to break our system, while in fact, were completely predicted by Stephen and Zach; the “milk in coffee” session, where a coffee ended up tasting like mushy peas; all the culinary delights Bermondsey has to offer; and mainly, all the things I’ve learnt already.

    My job is to deliver world-class customer service to the Pact community, so if you have any suggestions or feedback for anything Pact related (actually, non-Pact related is fine too) let me know, and I will see what I can do about it.

YourGrind.com is a small company run by 5 friends who are passionate about making our customers' lives better. It’s not just about great coffee, roasted within 7 days of shipping (though that is pretty key!) but the whole experience and that includes customer service. We take every customer question seriously, and take incredible pride in every single interaction we have, be it via email, phone, Twitter or in person at YourGrind HQ.

As we’ve grown, we’ve faced new challenges. We moved out of my dining room and into our first Grown Up Office back in February, when a busy day meant sending 25 bags of coffee after a looong queue at the Post Office. We’re now regularly sending 300 before the first collection at 3:30pm, and are growing faster than ever. (Scaling our technology has posed interesting problems too, though that’s one for another blog post…)

Customer Service has thrown a few curve balls too. Lots of organisations seem to place great customer care far down their list of priorities (especially for existing, rather than new customers!) but at YourGrind we couldn’t take it more seriously. As the inbox gets busier, we have had to think creatively about how to ensure that every customer who asks us a question is not only satisfied with the response, but delighted. That may be where you come in.

We’re looking for our first Customer Champion; someone who is as excited by our journey as we are, and wants to come along for the ride. You’ll be responsible for handling all our customer interactions, good and bad, and ensuring that our level of customer care is as good as the coffee we’re sending out. You can do this from home if you’re outside London, so the role is open to any one of our subscribers.

The perfect person is:

- Looking for a challenge - we like to push the boundaries of what is possible in everything we do

- A YourGrind customer

- Optimistic, enthusiastic and professional

- Eloquent, intelligent and highly organised

- A problem-solver who’s able to make decisions

If you’re interested in joining YourGrind, pop us an email or give us a call and have a chat. We’d really love to hear from you.

Stephen & The YourGrind Team x

[email protected]