Food​ ​Loves​ ​Tech

Do​ ​you​ ​love​ ​food?​ ​If​ ​you​ ​do,​ ​I​ ​hope​ ​you​ ​went​ ​to​ ​the​ ​​Food Loves Tech expo​ ​that
happened​ ​on​ ​November​ ​3rd​ ​and​ ​4th​ ​at​ ​Brooklyn’s​ ​Industry​ ​City.​ ​​Food Loves Tech
​is​ ​an unique​ ​education​ ​by​ ​entertainment​ ​innovation​ ​expo.​ ​Guest​ ​get​ ​to​ ​go​ ​around​ ​and experience​ ​all​ ​the​ ​food​ ​and​ ​drink​ ​experiential​ ​zones.​ ​​Food Loves Tech features​ ​virtual reality​ ​menus​ ​to​ ​rooftop​ ​farming​ ​to​ ​edible​ ​selfies​ ​and​ ​more​ ​much.​  Companies​ ​such​ ​as BuzzFeed’s​ ​​Tasty, Chobani​ Food Incubator, Edenworks, Gramercy Street Tavern,​and​ Impossible Foods participated​ ​in​ ​the​ ​expo.​ ​​Food Loves Tech ​organized​ ​companies​ ​into​ ​five​ ​different categories:​ ​In​ ​the​ ​Field​ ​and​ ​Sea,​ ​In​ ​the​ ​Home,​ ​On​ ​the​ ​Horizon,​ ​Bazaar,​ ​and​ ​In​ ​the​ ​City. Selffee​ ​was​ ​located​ ​in​ ​the​ ​Bazaar​ ​section​ ​on​ ​the​ ​second​ ​floor​ ​of​ ​the​ ​event.​ ​We​ ​had two​ ​long​ ​tables​ ​available​ ​for​ ​us​ ​to​ ​set​ ​up​ ​our​ ​equipment.​ ​On​ ​the​ ​first​ ​day,​ ​Selffee​ ​had​ ​our co-founder,​ ​David​ ​attend​ ​along​ ​with​ ​us.​ ​ ​The​ ​four​ ​member team ​were​ ​setting​ ​up for​ ​Selffee​ ​lattes.​ ​David​ ​talked​ ​to​ ​our​ ​guests,​ ​Al​ ​encouraged​ ​people​ ​to​ ​try​ ​our​ ​edible photo​ ​booth,​ ​Dennis ​was​ ​making​ ​the​ ​delicious​ ​lattes,​ ​and​ ​I​ ​was​ ​behind​ ​the​ ​computer.​ ​We​ ​began​ ​to​ ​have​ ​a​ ​huge​ ​crowd​ ​about​ ​30​ ​minutes​ ​into​ ​the​ ​event. We​ ​were​ ​all​ ​struggling​ ​to​ ​keep​ ​up​ ​with​ ​the​ massive​ crowd.​ ​Many​ ​people​ ​were​ ​amazed​ ​with​ ​our lattes.​ ​Our​ ​Selffee​ ​lattes​ ​looked​ ​so​ ​nice​ ​that​ ​people​ ​thought​ ​it​ ​was​ ​a​ ​plastic​ ​layer​ ​on​ ​top. When​ ​they​ ​found​ ​out​ ​it​ ​was​ ​actually​ ​on​ ​the​ ​whipping​ ​cream,​ ​they​ ​were​ ​so​ ​surprised.​ ​We even​ ​caught​ ​the​ ​press’s​ ​attention.​ ​They​ ​started​ ​to​ ​interview​ ​our​ ​co-founder.​ ​The​ ​press documented​ ​the​ ​whole​ ​process​ ​of​ ​making​ ​a​ ​Selffee​ ​latte​ ​from​ ​the​ ​start​ ​of​ ​taking​ ​the photo​ ​to​ ​behind​ ​the​ ​scenes.​ ​By​ ​the​ ​end​ ​of​ ​the​ ​day​ ​we​ ​made​ ​hundreds of ​selfie​ ​coffee. On​ ​the​ ​second​ ​day,​ ​we​ ​made​ ​selfie​ ​cookies​ ​and​ ​we​ ​had​ ​an​ ​extra​ ​co-worker,​ ​Ty to​ ​help​ ​us​ ​out.​ ​First​ ​thing​ ​in​ ​the​ ​morning,​ ​we​ ​had​ ​people​ ​come​ ​up​ ​to​ ​us​ ​and​ ​asked​ ​if​ ​we were​ ​the​ ​ones​ ​printing​ ​selfies​ ​on​ ​to​ ​lattes.​ ​I​ ​was​ ​so​ ​happy​ ​to​ ​hear​ ​that​ ​because​ ​it​ ​showed me​ ​that​ ​we​ ​were​ ​so​ ​successful​ ​the​ ​first​ ​day​ ​that​ ​people​ ​spread​ ​the​ ​word​ ​about​ ​us​ ​and people​ ​came​ ​looking​ ​for​ ​us.​ ​The​ ​second​ ​day​ ​was​ ​even​ ​more​ ​packed​ ​and​ ​crowded (probably​ ​because​ ​it​ ​was​ ​a​ ​Saturday).​ ​We​ ​were​ ​being​ ​so​ ​backed​ ​up​ because of the crowds, we needed a better system for organizing the crowd into a line.​ ​There​ ​were families​ ​and​ ​friends​ ​taking​ ​group​ ​pictures​ ​and​ ​having​ ​fun.​ ​The​ ​workers​ ​and​ ​volunteers of​ ​​Food Loves Tech also​ ​came​ ​by​ ​for​ ​a​ ​cookie​ ​or​ ​two.​ ​There​ ​was​ ​one​ ​janitor​ ​that​ ​was taking​ ​multiple​ ​pictures​ ​during​ ​the​ ​whole​ ​course​ ​of​ ​the​ ​event​ ​and​ ​kept​ ​on​ ​bugging​ ​us​ ​for more.​ ​A​ ​woman​ ​with​ ​a​ ​vegan​ ​bakery​ ​was​ ​intrigued​ ​by​ ​our​ ​cookies​ ​and​ ​was​ ​interested​ ​in working​ ​with​ ​us.​ ​Since​ ​the​ ​cookies​ ​were​ ​easier​ ​to​ ​produce,​ ​there was less mess to clean up at the end !!​ ​That​ ​was​ ​the​ ​most​ ​photos​ ​I​ ​had ever witnessed in a one day event.  Overall​ ​​Food Loves Tech,​ ​was​ ​fantastic!​ ​I​ ​had​ ​short​ ​breaks​ ​to​ ​explore​ ​the​ ​event itself​ ​and​ ​taste​ ​different​ ​foods​ ​and​ ​drinks.​ ​​Seekhad​ ​samples​ ​of​ ​their​ ​cricket​ ​flour​ ​snack bites,​ ​​Chloe’s​ Fruit had​ ​fruity​ ​popsicles,​ ​​Purity Organic had​ ​kale​ ​coconut​ ​water​ ​spinach apple​ ​juice,​ ​and​ ​​Real OysterCulteven​ ​had​ ​different​ ​types​ ​of​ ​raw​ ​oysters​ ​there.​ ​At​ ​the end​ ​of​ ​the​ ​event,​ ​we​ ​had​ ​a​ ​little​ ​experimentation​ ​with​ ​​Misha,​ ​which​ ​sells​ ​quark.​ Quark is a fresh dairy product similar to yogurt.  ​We successfully​ ​printed​ ​a​ ​selfie​ ​on​ ​a​ ​cup​ ​of​ ​quark​ ​and​ ​it​ ​looked​ ​flawless.​ ​Ta​ ​da!​ ​Maybe,​ ​the birth​ ​of​ ​a​ ​new​ ​creation?​ ​We’ll​ ​see​ ​how​ ​that​ ​goes.​ ​I​ ​hope​ ​all​ ​that​ ​went​ ​to​ ​​Food Loves Tech loved our selfie coffee and selfie cookies.