Claudia Mascino, Coffee Queen, has collaborated with award-winning Italian architects, Modourbano, to design The Pod by Peabodys – combining safety and customer care needs within a hospital setting.
Coffee for the Masses
Claudia Mascino, from Northern Italy, believes that good coffee should be available for everyone. Wanting to bring a touch of the Mediterranean to hospitals, Claudia spotted a gap in the market during the early noughties and sought to bring high-quality artisan coffee to hospitals. Now, the Covid crisis has brought about further need for ‘safety-first’ style hospitality, especially in a hospital setting.
Claudia believes that “Good coffee on a good day is great, but good coffee on a bad day is essential”.
The Pod by Peabodys
The Pod by Peabodys means that hospitals and universities don’t have to worry about coping with the expense, stress and time associated with installing a full coffee shop. Peabodys Coffee can now provide their reputable service through a completely self-contained, compact pod specifically designed with new pandemic safety measures that can be installed in just 24 hours. It’s sleek, simple, solid Italian design perfectly reflects the reliable, high-quality, convenient service from within, that’s sure to make waves in the estates and facilities sector this season.
The Pod by Peabodys is a highly innovative concept that has embraced the hygiene and safety protocols to deal with pandemic control. Its design is cashless, contactless and completely self contained. It’s set up with strict social distancing rules, with people queuing 2 metres from each other, and a designated order point and a pick up point. There is a built-in menu, and customers tell the staff their choice in safety, behind a glass screen. There is also a built-in sanitising area with hand gel to use before and after a visit.
Career Trajectory
In 2003 when the company was officially purchased, it was tiny – just a small coffee shop in St George’s University Hospital.
A second coffee shop inside the Royal London Hospital followed shortly, along with Bartholomew’s and St Helier Hospitals, and further expansion within St George’s. From there, Peabodys reputation preceded itself, with a snowball of openings across NHS Trusts within the M25.
Claudia isn’t your ordinary coffee shop boss. She could easily have been the Nigella of Time Team, with a PHD from Cambridge in Archaeology and a successful business partner in husband Luke.
But her passion for working with the NHS to generate community spirit and run an employee centric business prevailed, and following a few years of running Peabodys part time decided to dedicate her career to the company.
She has travelled to Brazil to learn about coffee provenance, takes the lead on sustainability strategy, and always, always, has the customer experience and employees’ wellbeing at the centre of her work.
