Three sisters, one brand

When I saw Pax Coffee and Kitchen pop up on my Instagram feed and realised that it was a brand created right here in Trinidad, I scrambled to learn more. From the brand name itself, the fact that they had their cold brew in the cutest brown bottles, to their presence at a few pop ups soon after their launch backed by the level of branding you’d expect from a young coffee brand, I wanted to get the full story.

Meet the Pax team. Arrianne Thompson, 28, Georgia West, 26, and Ivanna Lanser, 23. You’d think that Pax is the common denominator between these three. Not true. They are actually sisters and their years of playing café as little girls turned into a vision and is now a reality.

“I always wanted my own business, because I like to manage things. Ivanna was studying culinary and Georgia is the creative one. And we love coffee and going to cafés. We grew up with a coffee station in our house. So I thought why don’t we do something like this together. And we discussed it and decided to do it,” says West.

The sisters reminisced about going to their father in their late teens and pitching him the idea. “We went to our dad with a proper proposal. We wore matching outfits and got a projector for the proposal. We went through all the slides. We had the menu and everything planned out.” Their father told them to go to school and do their studies and then bring the idea back to him.

“We all went to school and did our studies. We would meet and discuss the idea all throughout and then we were finished, we brought back the idea again. Of course it had evolved into something even better and we were ready to get started.”

For the sisters, the vision is to have a café that truly embodies coffee and café culture on an international level. West explained “We started with the idea of a full service restaurant with tables and waiters coming to serve you a full menu. Then the location we found really cemented what we wanted to do. It’s still a bit of a secret but it’s at a high-traffic spot so we know we will get the pop-in customers and those to dine in. It’s a spot where people will pass us every day. So it’s fast-paced and we want it to match that pace with our service. So good food, fast service. It’s where you can get a good meal without all the sitting down and ordering process.”

The sisters continued to chat about their vision behind Pax and as they rambled on and completed each other’s sentences, it was clear that their sibling bond is the nucleus of their success. Another facet, is the fact they believe that there is room for every idea to exist.

“We love Starbucks, Full Bloom Coffee in Woodbrook and other coffee shops. We don’t see them as our competitors, as we love going to cafés. It’s about building the café culture here in Trinidad.” added Lanser. “We believe in variety and there is room for everyone. It’s about seeing competition as a good thing. We are trying to be more community driven and we have had so much support from other entrepreneurs and cafés since launching the coffee. It’s been truly overwhelming.”

The sisters see coffee as bringing people together and that’s a big part of why they got into this business and while they have focussed on getting their coffee just right, from the blend to the packaging and the marketing, it’s more about adding their take on the coffee culture and experience that they will offer to each of their customers. “For us it’s about that coffee experience, that coffee moment. How you feel when you have a cup of coffee in the morning, or when you meet up with a friend for a coffee. That’s what we want to embody, so that when you walk in, you can have your coffee moment,” said West.

As for the name, Pax, the Latin word for peace, the sisters said they just wanted one word that stood out and was easy to say. “We didn’t want anything to do with sisters, or coffee itself. It took us a while but once we found it, Pax stuck,” said West.

Pax Coffee is sold in select gourmet shops and is available to order through the social media channels of the brand. You can also see the brand at various pop-ups. “We never thought our coffee would be so successful in such a short space of time and we haven’t even completed the space yet but it is coming soon and we are very excited to contribute to the way we enjoy coffee here in Trinidad,” said West.