The Ripple Maker: Making Waves

 Not only Humans are getting in on the act!

Now we’ve been playing with our new Ripple Maker coffee & cocktail printing machine for almost a month, we thought it was time to give you a round-up of what we’ve learnt!

To really experience a similar volume to a typical cafe we decided to host a “Selfie Coffee Morning” at one of our partner-venue’s showroom in Newcastle, U.K. The event was a great success with us serving at one point 2 selfie coffees every minute.

One of the early guinea pigs for our selfie experiments!

The machine was really well received. We asked our participants to download the Coffee Ripples App onto their own phones and take a selfie using their own phones (we had a spare iphone on hand in any case). From downloading the app to receiving their own printed coffee the process took around 3–5 minutes, during which time their coffee was being made in any case. Repeat visits can cut that time down to around 10–20 seconds (on top of the regular ordering process).

One of the pre-loaded images printed for a slightly shyer customer.

While looking at this machine we’ve identified a few different business opportunities (aside from the regular Cafe, Bar & Restaurant venues) where this concept could work well. If you’re in one of these industries you should really give us a call:

• Events (Weddings)— This concept is perfect for any corporate or special event. Allowing wedding guests to print their own coffee selfies is a great way for them to have fun after the wedding meal. You can even personalise ‘filters’ with the Bride & Groom’s name on for that perfect insta-momento.
• Charity Events — The Ripple Maker is a great way to bring good PR to a coffee morning (like the one we hosted) but also encourage people to donate more. The cost of a coffee to the producer is quite small but especially when coupled with a printed selfie can command a much higher premium. Besides that, people are much more generous with their wallets when they’ve been wowed or surprised!
• Festivals — Just like any of the other events, festivals are a great opportunity for you to stand out in a competitive sphere on a premium pricepoint. Especially at large-scale music festivals people expect to pay a lot more for goods, certainly an extra few dollars or pounds for a pretty mediocre coffee. The problem is that there are many retailers in that same sphere, with a Ripple Maker you can really set yourself apart.
• Product Launches — The opportunity to place your branding directly into a consumer’s hand is obvious. The novelty factor of a printed coffee will align the feelings of innovation and pleasure with your own brand. The obvious candidates for this are the coffee manufacturers and main retailers but there are also opportunities for automotive brands, fashion brands and luxury product makers.

Our pricing structure will soon be going live here but until then you can either get in touch or contact us via social media.