It’s been a crazy few weeks on the marketing front at the reserve. And it all started with a chance discovery - a stencil made by Richard Burton for his tearoom/gallery that he used to create a chocolate puffin silhouette on cappuccinos.
It proved to be an important moment - the birth of the 'cappuffinccino'.
Then came the idea to use cappuffinccinos to celebrate the return of the bird to Bempton Cliffs after the dreadful number of puffin deaths at the end of March and beginning of April.
Could the whole of the town be persuaded to serve cappuffinccinos in a bid to welcome them home? There was only one way to find out: visit as many cafes, coffee shops and bars as possible to explain it.
Several days and two blisters later, dozens had signed up to serve cappuffinccinos.
Then came the really hard work: stencil cutting and laminating into the early hours of the morning; mad dashes to deliver them along with assorted leaflets and signs; not to mention a photo shoot that turned one of our cliff-edge viewpoints into an al fresco cappuffinccino café.
There’s also been a pronunciation issue to resolve. Just how do you say the name? (Ask your waiter or waitress confidently for a ca-puffin-chino).
But finally, the brilliant baristas and bar staff of Brid have their stencils at the ready and are good to go.
So over the late Spring bank holiday weekend (from 24 May) and the following half-term week, hundreds upon hundreds of frothy coffees bearing a chocolate puffin will be sipped all over town. In small cafes, in large restaurants, in hotels and in bars, from the south beach to the north.
And they're already proving to be a talking point. But then that’s the whole idea - to spark converstions with the thousands of visitors who come to the seaside about the wonders of Bempton Cliffs – especially the puffins who make their home here during the breeding season.
All we need now are customers.
Avril cutting out in the early hours of the morning (for which she received The Order of the Puffin)
The RSPB's Chris and Janey, with Richard Burton, drinking cappuffinccinos for the press.
A perfect cappuffinccino
A list of everyone serving cappuffinccinos will appear here soon. One will also be available in the reserve’s visitor centre and at Bridlington Tourist Information centre…whose staff are also creating a cappuffinccino-inspired window display. So if you're planning a trip to Bridlington, check out the cappuffinccino 'directory' first.