Shop Front: Fresco DeliKafessen – Guildford’s Latest Coffee Shop

Published on: 21 Sep, 2015
Updated on: 23 Sep, 2015

Fresco DeliKafessen in Friary Street

Guildford’s latest coffee shop offering is Fresco DeliKafessen, an independent coffee shop in Friary Street, owned by two young Greek graduates of the University of Surrey who have decided to follow their passion for food and coffee and introduce something new to Guildford town.

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They say that they will stock: “Top notch quality products, including homemade sweets from the in-house pastry chef freshly baked every morning. We are the only place in Guildford to sell both sweet and savoury crepes. We also serve fresh juice and one of the best coffee blends in the world – Hausbrandt, from northern Italy.”

Fresco DeliKafessen has been operating for two months since the end of July.

Dimitrios was president of the Greek Society at university and together with Konstantinos has maintained strong links with their alma mater. They have called Guildford home since 2009.

Both say they are passionate about great service and even better food. They started their independent business from scratch and are working hard to grow their new venture, hoping to expand in the future.

Their drive and ambition can be felt just by chatting with them, they have a great independent spirit and ethos affecting the way they run their business.

Their message: “We offer delicious food in a casual and friendly atmosphere. There is an upstairs seating area that can be booked for private events and meetings. Just give us a call and we will arrange everything for you.

“Try it out, see what we do and you won’t be disappointed,” says Dimitrios.

Their shop in Friary street had been empty for a period after it was vacated by Junior Cupcakes.

They say: “We offer delicious food in a casual and friendly atmosphere.”

Over the past couple of decades, the UK has been catching up to its continental European cousins in embracing café culture – an explosion in coffee chains has meant that most high streets without its Costas or Starbucks would be a strange sight.

According to data published in 2014: The total UK coffee shop market is estimated at 16,501 outlets and continues to show strong sales growth of 6.4% on last year with £6.2 billion total turnover.

The Fresco DeliKafessan coffee shop – in Friary Street

It is forecast that the total UK coffee shop market will exceed 20,500 outlets with a turnover of £8.7 billion by 2018, and 4.5 per cent annual outlet growth over the 5-year period.

One in five coffee shop visitors visit coffee shops every day compared with just one in nine in 2009, drinking an estimated 1.7 billion cups of coffee per year.

Coffee venues increasingly play an important social and community hub function as well as being a large contributor to UK employment and economy.