We’re in a very lucky position as a company. While a lot of businesses have had to cease trading, we could carry on - continuing to send out fresh coffee to customers around the country. There’s one reason we could do that. It’s all down to our roastery staff.
Without the people roasting, quality checking, grinding, packaging and moving the coffee, there’d be none for you to drink. While a lot of us - including me! - get to work from home, they can’t (partly because a 1000-tonne roaster doesn’t fit in the average living room….).
Staying in might not feel like a privilege. But it is. So we want to say a big, big, BIG thank you to our roastery team. Each and every one of them deserves our gratitude.
It’s time to notice the people who keep things going
When things are ticking along as usual, no-one notices the people making it possible.
You only think about bin collectors when yours has been missed, or put back slightly askew. Supermarket cashiers are only acknowledged if they inconvenience you, by IDing you when you’ve left it at home or scanning items through too slowly or quickly. And when you get your pizza on time, it’s just you and that meat feast… but when it’s late, or cold, or looks like it’s been thrown down the stairs, the delivery driver is all you think about.
But everything has changed. Suddenly we’re aware of how essential these jobs are, for all the right reasons. Because 1000s are risking their health, every day, to make sure they get done. Our roastery staff fall into that group - and we couldn’t be more grateful to them.
A toast to the roastery
Let’s be clear, coffee isn’t always the easiest product to work with. In sacks it’s heavy, and when ground it’s messy. Roasters are very loud, and generate a lot of heat. It’s a fiddly, faffy job to grind 5+ different coffees to 5 different grind sizes - never cross contaminating - then sealing and packing at speed, with 1000s of orders getting roasted, ground, packed, and shipped every day. Then add including the relevant coffee cards (of which there are many) and working to strict Royal Mail pick-up times.
That doesn’t even touch on the complexity of carrying out multiple different roasts, carefully calibrating to each individual coffee to draw out very particular characteristics. And quality checking to make sure no defect beans sneak through.
What we’re saying is a lot goes into producing each and every coffee delivery you get. And that’s under normal circumstances. We think they deserve a big thank you for doing all that generally. But these days, things are even more complicated…
How the Pact Coffee roastery is tackling the situation
Turns out, people really need their coffee during a time like this - so our roastery has been busier than ever. But besides working longer-than-ever days, there’s a few crucial steps they’re taken to look after the team’s safety and continuity of service.These include:
- Allowing no external visitors or staff to visit
- Employees interviewed regarding health upon arrival, and sent home if unwell
- Increased sanitation (over and above our currency 5/5 food hygiene rating)
- Regular hand washing and gloves worn when handling product
- Twice daily ‘deep cleans’ have been introduced
- Split-shift systems implemented, for social distancing purposes and reduce risk
- 2 metre rule for all employees, with packing benches reconfigured to allow this
- Brought 10 new members of staff onboard, to fulfil volumes safely
That’s a lot of changes to introduce to a well-established production line. But it had to be done, and so it was done! And with coffee volumes up by around 75% too, that’s no small task.
How you can say ‘thank you’ to our roasting team
From saying ‘cheers’ to your postie from a distance, to a smile and a nod to a shopping assistant, small acts of gratitude matter. If you want to say thanks to our roasting team, feel free to reach out over social media!
How you can really show your thanks, though, is by continuing to be as patient as you always have. As understanding as you’ve always been, when a coffee card is missing or your order doesn’t arrive when it was expected. We’re doing all we can to make sure things like that don’t happen, but it is an unprecedented time for us all. We just hope you keep enjoying Pact Coffee.
Thank you for supporting Pact, and join us in raising a glass/mug/espresso shot to our roasting team - we couldn’t be more proud of all they do.
