One of the best ways to ensure your business succeeds is to offer a compelling and unique take on an existing (and popular!) product. But when that product needs specialized packaging that’s also in heavy demand, your access to that packaging can change quickly depending on how the supply chain turns.
Brad Mavin, owner of Deadly Grounds Coffee Canada, encountered this a few years ago during some unprecedented times that changed how customers, businesses, and manufacturers alike had to change how they did business.
As a purveyor of coffee with some serious personality, Brad was having a tough time finding the staples needed to keep his product safe and protected. Coffee bags, tin ties, coffee cups, and coffee sleeves were in short supply. He had to jump from distributor to distributor, dealing with substitutions, bulk order requirements, and constantly changing lead times.
In his search for stability, and desire for dealing with more local vendors, Brad found his way to The Packaging Company. And a packaging product he hadn’t interacted with in quite a while.
Who is Deadly Grounds Coffee?
Deadly Grounds Coffee started life in the United States, founded by Tom Lialios, a veteran of television and film production for over 20 years. Coffee became incredibly important to him, not only as a necessity to keep him going during those long work hours, but also because it gave him the chance to catch up with co-workers and share some great moments together.
Tom soon began a quest for the brand or roast that would lead to his coffee nirvana. He eventually decided to simply make his own and sought out a talented local roaster with a similar passion for the perfect cup. And so, Deadly Grounds Coffee was born—a collection of traditional and flavored roasts that pay homage to classic horror films.
Adopting the slogan Coffee To Die For®, Tom chose a hearse as his company car and created one of the most unique and memorable coffee carts in existence.
In 2013 while attending Scare-a-Con, Tom met Brad Mavin, another lover of coffee and all things horror, and an instant friendship was born. Brad fell in love with the concept and, knowing it was something he had to get involved with, told Tom he wanted to bring it to Canada. In 2015, Deadly Grounds Coffee Canada awoke.
First, they started with conventions across North America, including Fan Expo and HorrorCon in Canada. Then, they expanded into Amazon fulfillment, their own e-commerce websites, and finally—after repeated demand by fans—the brick-and-mortar Deadly Grounds Café.
Located in Courtice, Ontario (just an hour or so east of Toronto), Deadly Grounds Café is everything a coffee and horror lover would want in one location. Surrounded by high-quality horror props and merchandise, patrons can enjoy freshly brewed roasts, specialty drinks, and baked goods.
Here’s just a few of the drinks we’ve loved during our visits:
- The Espressocist
- Monsteritaville (a perfect summer cold brew!)
- Dead Velvet
- Rocky Roadkill
- Coconut Scream Pie
- Rot Chocolate
- And SO many more!
Deadly Grounds Coffee Finds Its Way to Custom Coffee Sleeves (Again!)
During Brad’s search for distributors of his specialized packaging needs, The Packaging Company re-entered his radar. Originally having ordered shipping boxes from us, he was on our email list when we announced the debut of our custom coffee sleeves—featuring full color double sided printing on kraft and white options.
Having dabbled in custom coffee sleeves with other distributors before and not entirely happy with the result, he says the email came at just the right time. He’d been thinking about finding new branding opportunities and was becoming more intentional about working with local businesses. TPC has a Canadian presence, and it was local to him, offering free pick-up. Brad acted.
Did you know TPC has two locations offering free pick-up? TPC Canada’s pick-up is located at its Brampton, Ontario fulfilment center (that’s just outside Toronto). TPC USA’s pick-up is located at its Mundelein, Illinois fulfilment center (that’s just outside Chicago).
Checking out our free online design tool for custom coffee sleeves, Brad gave the details to his designer, who prepped his artwork for easy upload and checkout. After we received his order, we sent him an image of a printed proof for approval so he’d know exactly what the final product would look like.
Once his custom coffee cup sleeves were finished and delivered, Brad let us know they were a hit almost immediately. Customers were enthusiastic over the new branded coffee sleeves, loving the silhouettes of classic horror characters, and showing them off on their social media profiles.
Your E-Commerce Partner
We’re always ecstatic to help unique businesses like Deadly Grounds keep their products (and reputations!) safe and secure. If your business needs a smart packaging solution for its unique products, be sure to reach out to us. With thousands of stock packaging items and a comprehensive Custom Shop at your disposal, we’re The Packaging Company, and we’re your e-commerce partner.
Thanks for loving packaging as much as we do, Brad. And thanks for having Deadly Grounds Coffee be a part of TPC Stories.
