The Tea Terrace introduces futuristic technology that enables customers’ selfies to be printed on the froth of their cappuccinos or hot chocolate using edible food colouring
Vasileios Ntagadakis
Guildford and Surrey residents visiting The Tea Terrace at House of Fraser in Guildford from tomorrow (Friday January 26) will be able to try the famous Selfieccino, which has gone viral on social media after The Tea Terrace launched it at its London Oxford Street branch last month.
The Tea Terrace coined the word Selfieccino for its coffee or chocolate based hot drink which comes with a creamy froth on which the customers can have their selfie, or any photo of their choosing, printed using a high-tech printer that uses unique Japanese technology to print on liquids.
The London-based Tea Terrace chain of tea rooms became the first in the UK and Europe to offer this unique drink which was last month featured on BBC News, CNN, Japanese Television and TV stations around the world. Vogue Magazine called it the coolest craze to hit restaurants and cafes in many years.
"Following the huge success of this unique concept at our London branch, we are now bringing it to Guildford. We are proud to be introducing something quite unique to the UK market. It’s the first time people will be able to print their selfie, or any image, on their cappuccino," said Rowena Shouly, Managing Director of The Tea Terrace, which owns and operates three tea rooms at the House of Fraser department stores in London Oxford Street, London Victoria Street and Guilford.
Customers simply take a selfie and then send it via a messaging app to the barista at The Tea Terrace who will then prepare a delicious frothy cappuccino – or hot chocolate – as they would normally do. The barista then puts the mug containing the cappuccino under the high-tech printer which prints the selfie out on to the froth in less than 30 seconds.
Shouly added: "The likeness and accuracy of the image is amazing. And it still looks like what is known among coffee lovers as ‘barista art’, which is when a barista spends time creating a likeness of a customer on the froth manually. The problem with barista art is that by the time it’s done, the cappuccino’s gone cold.
“For us, today’s dining experience is no longer just about having great food and drink. That's a given must-have. But what sets unique restaurants like us is innovation and creativity. It’s all about differentiation and about creating unique experiences that our customers can document on social media. Our research shows that restaurants today have the highest share of photos posted on social media. So we are capitalising on this".
The Tea Terrace has been a pioneer in terms of creating photo opportunities for its customers to post on Instagram and social media. The company first introduced its fairy-tale ‘throne chairs’ a few years ago which became a favourite with customers. Last May, the tea rooms introduced Cinderella-style golden princess carriages in which customers can dine.
“Innovation and creating new concepts and new photo opportunities for our customers is the key driver behind our success. Millennials today form more than 50 per cent of our customer base and we have to give them what they want. Today’s customers want great food, great service and great photos,” said Lailana Shouly, Marketing & PR Director at The Tea Terrace.
The Tea Terrace plans to expand on its proprietary Selfieccino name. It has registered the domain names www.Selfieccinos.com and www.Selfieccinos.co.uk and plans to create a website where customers can post photos of themselves with their selfie coffees. “We expect the Selfieccino to be a big hit on Instagram and Snapchat,” Lailana noted.
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