Masteroast Capsule Machine Development - Article published in Packaging News Magazine

​​During these times of upheaval where many of us are adapting our work routine it's important to take stock of what is important and what we have to accept will be different. Masteroast is also going through this process and we would like to share a few of the tips we are picking up along the way. The below is just a few routine habits that we find will ease this transition from the traditional office to the kitchen table/spare room/ garden/sofa or home office

Habits are daily behaviours that are carried out automatically or with very little thought.  Scientific study backs the importance of creating and maintaining positive habits. The routines we hold allow us to minimise effort and allow us to improve productivity as well as settling us with predictability. We are confident the sun will rise, that work finishes at a certain time and that coffee in the morning while you're hurrying to your desk is an essential ingredient in getting those tricky first few emails sorted. We also continually strive to predict the weather with the accuracy of a blind darts man in our quest to know. We love routine and routine really is healthy. Let us see what we can do to maintain some of these rituals. 

1. A set work pattern that is similar to your usual working hours. That includes lunch breaks and coffee stops. Definitely coffee stops!

2. A new work environment can be quite difficult to get used to. Get comfy and ensure that you have all the tools that you're likely to need. When you do take breaks perhaps give a friend or colleague a call, or take a quick walk. 

3. Stay connected: Keep your colleagues, friends and family close, that is important. These connections help you remain a more rounded mentally healthy person. When you get the opportunity to talk to someone, don't send an email, pick up the phone and update them on which stage of a project that you're at or where you're going with it. 

4. Just because you're not at your usual working environment doesn't mean that you shouldn't keep hydrated and have the occasional coffee. Enjoying a coffee is a pleasure you can still bring to the work area you've curated.

5. Though it may be tempting to start work without having a shower or even getting dressed we would recommend maintaining a presentable appearance if not for anyone else but yourself. Getting ready for the day out at the office is a big part of how you see and present yourself. This is up there with point 1 about keeping a regular work pattern. 

6. Technology has come a long way, not least to allow you to fulfil your office role from home but in the way you can communicate face to face, use apps like Zoom, Messenger and Skype to communicate with your colleagues and discuss business activities. This technology again goes some way to plugging the gap in your social life with face to face communication.  ​

If you have any interest in any particular coffees that we can help source from Colombia, please do not hesitate to ask the Masteroast team.

I am composing this Christmas message prior to the pending election, desperately trying to think of something positive to say, but confess I am finding the task pretty difficult. I do not think I, and for that matter many people I have spoken to recently, have ever felt quite so alienated from our country’s political establishment. It is a sad indictment when the overriding incentive appears to be a vote for the least worst alternative. There can hardly have been a previous General Election having so much potential for such fundamental change to the business environment and consequences for the nation’s economic health.

Can there ever have been year when so much has happened, resulting in so little change? Encouragingly, during the continuing uncertainty and hubris we have all had to endure during 2019, industry in general and Masteroast’s customers in particular, appear have battled on regardless, generally maintaining steady growth.

To more domestic matters, it was with somewhat mixed feelings when we learned that Jonny England and Marie-Anne Rogers, in order to further their careers, would be moving on to new and exciting roles outside the company. We were sad to lose them but delighted to learn of their respective futures in very fulfilling jobs. Jonny moving into a senior coffee role in a highly respected and recognised global player and Marie-Anne, whilst in the process of considering various options as a way of widening her experience, will likely take a buying role outside our industry. We wish them both every success in their future careers and take, not too little, pride in knowing that having begun their careers at Masteroast, their unique opportunity for training and practical experience has played an important part in enabling them to achieve such rewarding prospects.  
 
As most people in the industry will be aware, after working for fifteen years trading green coffees in Kenya, Tanzania, Colombia, Costa Rica and latterly running the US coffee trading operation for a global commodities broker based in New York, Matthew Mills decided to return to this country and has been appointed Commercial Director of Masteroast.
 
Matthew, who  of course, is Eve’s and my son, has not only delighted us all by coming back to the company with his unique experience and wealth of knowledge of all things coffee, but has, along with his lovely wife Diana, brought us the double bonus of our two baby granddaughters, Francesca born 2018 in New York and Carlotta born here earlier this year!

One positive, if slightly whimsical, development in 2019 was that following the shock announcement that The Apostrophe Protection Society was to close due to “the ignorance and laziness in present times”, the society, whose aim is to preserve the correct use of the abused and neglected “apostrophe”, has since received a 600 fold increase in support! Due to the sudden and massive increase in traffic on the society’s website, the server was so overloaded the site was forced to close! Hence, news of the society’s demise has proven premature and is now very much alive, with a new and expanded website being launched in early January. Perhaps the modern-day Philistines’ time has not yet completely come to pass.


It has been customary at this time of year for Masteroast to make a worthwhile contribution to a worthy charity. This year we have decided to make a substantial contribution to Peterborough Cathedral by financing the replacement of the antiquated and troublesome interior lighting system with the latest LED technology. The wellbeing of the cathedral has long been a cause that Masteroast has been proud to support, not least a five-year sponsorship towards the cathedral’s 900th anniversary celebrations in 2018. Not only will the LED lighting system save the cathedral in excess of £40,000 per year, but equally importantly will make a very significant contribution to reducing the building’s carbon footprint.
 

On behalf of everyone at Masteroast, I should like to wish all of our friends and colleagues in our industry, along with their families and loved ones, a very Merry Christmas, along with a sincere hope that 2020, contrary to the fears of many, turns out to be a year of peace, prosperity and progress.