Since opening in June last year, Victus Coffee & Eatery in Nelson has become a busy spot for locals and tourists alike to enjoy an espresso with a bite to eat. This month they won the 2023 Nelson Hospitality Award for Outstanding Café!
Walk into Victus and you’ll likely see Nick Schryvers behind the counter, frothing the milk for the next flat white. With a pair of thick round glasses and a twirly moustache, you’ll be immediately struck with the thought: this guy epitomises the word “barista”.
Nick is a husband, father and self-professed coffee geek. He and his family fellowship at All Saints in Nelson. He’s also the co-owner of Victus with his wife, Beth.
I had the pleasure of speaking with him about what it’s like to run a café, care for staff and offer Christ-like hospitality.
Nick: Beth and I both hail from backgrounds in the specialty coffee industry, spending time roasting, barista training, selling and brewing coffee. We’ve always had a shared heart for true hospitality and had dreamed of starting our own café and creating a space where people can feel welcomed and loved, while experiencing beautiful food and coffee. When the option was presented to us, we jumped, and haven’t looked back!
Victus comes from an old Latin word meaning “nourishment” or “way of doing life”, which for us really embodies the spirit of hospitality – bringing people together and sharing life with each other.
Nick: Our faith has a profound impact on our work, both in our service to those we host, but also in the way we steward the business and care for our staff and their families. Our faith is at the forefront of our mind and it makes its mark on every facet of our business.
One specific example of when our faith influenced our business practice was right as we started. We were tossing up whether we should provide a “loyalty” scheme or not, but felt strongly that we would rather act out of generosity to those in need that we come across, so instead adopted a “pay it forward” approach. In the past year we’ve been able to provide coffees and food to those in need through natural disasters, family crises, severe health diagnoses and even just tough days. Although often a small act, it has a profound effect on the receiving end.
Nick: We’re very aware that everything we have is a gift from God, not built on our own backs alone. We constantly hold these things in tension, working with excellence in every way we can, while not clinging too tightly to any of it. We take every opportunity that comes our way to be able to use our business to bless those in need, while having a long term plan for growth and sustainability.
Nick: We’re so proud of our team and the effort they all put it in. We strive for excellence in all that we do at Victus and aim to make our service as genuine and heartfelt as we can, so it’s nice to be recognised for that.
Nick: Tough one that. It is definitely a very fine balance, and some weeks are just a write-off for anything but work!
This past year however we’ve been making a conscious effort to pray more together and make church life a bigger family priority. We intentionally decided to close Sundays also, as we knew that opening them would hamper this effort and eat further into our time and energy.
Nick: One proverb that often inspires what we do is “He aha te mea nui? He tāngata, he tāngata, he tāngata”. (What is the most important thing? The people, the people, the people.) This is a core value of our business and is on our website.
Right at the very start of this journey Isaiah 54:1 meant a lot to us: “Enlarge the place of your tent…” We continue to hope to grow and enlarge our capacity to work with the resources we’ve been blessed with in the wonderful life.
Nick: Our long-term vision for Victus is that we could create a space that epitomises Christ-like hospitality, and sets a new standard for excellence in our industry.
Our company name is Victus Hospitality, so we have always hoped to grow what we have beyond a single cafe. We would love to expand our site to have room for more tables, more people and even other small businesses under one roof, to become a one-stop community spot!
Check out other articles in the
Faith in Business
series below.
More articles in the
Faith in Business
series are to come.
We have invited these writers to share their experiences, ideas and opinions in the hope that these will provoke thought, challenge you to go deeper and inspire you to put your faith into action. These articles should not be taken as the official view of the Nelson Diocese on any particular matter.
Since opening in June last year, Victus Coffee & Eatery in Nelson has become a busy spot for locals and tourists alike to enjoy an espresso with a bite to eat. This month they won the 2023 Nelson Hospitality Award for Outstanding Café!
Walk into Victus and you’ll likely see Nick Schryvers behind the counter, frothing the milk for the next flat white. With a pair of thick round glasses and a twirly moustache, you’ll be immediately struck with the thought: this guy epitomises the word “barista”.
Nick is a husband, father and self-professed coffee geek. He and his family fellowship at All Saints in Nelson. He’s also the co-owner of Victus with his wife, Beth.
I had the pleasure of speaking with him about what it’s like to run a café, care for staff and offer Christ-like hospitality.
Nick: Beth and I both hail from backgrounds in the specialty coffee industry, spending time roasting, barista training, selling and brewing coffee. We’ve always had a shared heart for true hospitality and had dreamed of starting our own café and creating a space where people can feel welcomed and loved, while experiencing beautiful food and coffee. When the option was presented to us, we jumped, and haven’t looked back!
Victus comes from an old Latin word meaning “nourishment” or “way of doing life”, which for us really embodies the spirit of hospitality – bringing people together and sharing life with each other.
Nick: Our faith has a profound impact on our work, both in our service to those we host, but also in the way we steward the business and care for our staff and their families. Our faith is at the forefront of our mind and it makes its mark on every facet of our business.
One specific example of when our faith influenced our business practice was right as we started. We were tossing up whether we should provide a “loyalty” scheme or not, but felt strongly that we would rather act out of generosity to those in need that we come across, so instead adopted a “pay it forward” approach. In the past year we’ve been able to provide coffees and food to those in need through natural disasters, family crises, severe health diagnoses and even just tough days. Although often a small act, it has a profound effect on the receiving end.
Nick: We’re very aware that everything we have is a gift from God, not built on our own backs alone. We constantly hold these things in tension, working with excellence in every way we can, while not clinging too tightly to any of it. We take every opportunity that comes our way to be able to use our business to bless those in need, while having a long term plan for growth and sustainability.
Nick: We’re so proud of our team and the effort they all put it in. We strive for excellence in all that we do at Victus and aim to make our service as genuine and heartfelt as we can, so it’s nice to be recognised for that.
Nick: Tough one that. It is definitely a very fine balance, and some weeks are just a write-off for anything but work!
This past year however we’ve been making a conscious effort to pray more together and make church life a bigger family priority. We intentionally decided to close Sundays also, as we knew that opening them would hamper this effort and eat further into our time and energy.
Nick: One proverb that often inspires what we do is “He aha te mea nui? He tāngata, he tāngata, he tāngata”. (What is the most important thing? The people, the people, the people.) This is a core value of our business and is on our website.
Right at the very start of this journey Isaiah 54:1 meant a lot to us: “Enlarge the place of your tent…” We continue to hope to grow and enlarge our capacity to work with the resources we’ve been blessed with in the wonderful life.
Nick: Our long-term vision for Victus is that we could create a space that epitomises Christ-like hospitality, and sets a new standard for excellence in our industry.
Our company name is Victus Hospitality, so we have always hoped to grow what we have beyond a single cafe. We would love to expand our site to have room for more tables, more people and even other small businesses under one roof, to become a one-stop community spot!
Check out other articles in the
Faith in Business
series below.
More articles in the
Faith in Business
series are to come.
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