Q&A with Mihaela Iordache​

What’s your experience/role in the coffee sector?

I’ve been working in the coffee sector since 2014. For the first two years, I worked as a barista/manager in Ten Belles coffee shop. I then moved to the production side of things at Belleville Brûlerie in Paris, where I started delving into the craft of blending coffee. Since then, I’ve created six specialty blends that have been offered a “Fabriqué à Paris” label by the city of Paris.

I currently work as Head Roaster and QC Manager at Belleville. On the side, I co-organise the Frog Fight coffee events across France. In 2019, I won the Roast Masters in Milan, Italy.

Why did you decide to work with MTPak Coffee?

It was thanks to my personal experience working with MTPak Coffee that I was encouraged to champion the brand and its products. I was truly impressed by the quality of MTPak Coffee’s custom bags, as well as the professionalism and candour of the sales team. I was also really pleased with how efficient they’ve been in helping solve all logistical difficulties caused by Covid-19. Right now, I honestly can’t imagine working with anyone else.

What do you think the modern coffee sector needs to focus on?

Climate change is having a significant impact on coffee production and we’re running a race against the clock to save it. We need to invest more time, energy, and resources at this stage of the supply chain, otherwise we could be facing a very bleak future with considerably lower quality coffee than we have today – if any at all. I think we need to focus on getting more and more people hooked on specialty coffee. This, in turn, will allow us to improve sustainability.

Tell us more about how you view coffee packaging, and what you think the sector should be focusing on going forward.

Coffee packaging is currently undergoing a revolution as more and more customers demand environmentally friendly options. As part of this, I hope the industry focuses more on improving the quality of compostable packaging to increase the shelf life of the coffee inside. I imagine this would have a profound impact on the entire sector. After all, quality always ends up vouching for itself.