Loranzo Whitfield operates the Ethereal Cupcakes and Coffee Shoppe alongside his wife, Carolyn Whitfield. Although the couple’s business venture is still quite young, having only been opened in 2012, they have already managed to make quite a splash with the Hampton community with their promise of cupcakes baked fresh everyday and from scratch: no premade mixes, artificial flavors, preservatives, or coloring, just good old-fashioned fresh-baked cupcakes made from the finest natural ingredients.
Each day, Loranzo and his pastry chefs prepare 10 different varieties of cupcakes from a list of over 90 recipes that they have created. Loranzo’s creative nature extends to more than just the sheer number of cupcake varieties on offer, each one that he or his staff create are given whimsical names such as the Thank You, Thank You Very Much, Thrilla Vanilla, or Ohhh Baby cupcakes. At every step of the cupcake creation process, Loranzo and his team inject their work with a sense of fun and originality that is too often missing from a customer-oriented business.
With 90 varieties on the Ethereal Cupcake menu, Loranzo and his crew have a cupcake to thrill just about anyone’s taste buds. Loranzo’s cupcakes come in gourmet, super gourmet, alcohol infused, as well as vegan & gluten free categories, meaning that there is a cupcake that can fit your special dietary needs, or satisfy that indulgent streak in all of us.
As a part of his dedication to the concept of doing away with artificial ingredients and providing only the best home-made products to his customers, Loranzo only uses Valrhona chocolate in the recipes that call for chocolate, never generic store-bought chocolate. Also, the butter used in their recipes is European butter, which is 83% butterfat. Ethereal Cupcakes even offers three unique varieties of buttercream, silky smooth, French, and Italian. To call Ethereal Cupcakes’ ingredients gourmet quality simply does not do them justice, as these products are some of the finest materials in existence for the crafting of superb confections.
While Ethereal Cupcakes makes a sublime cupcake, they also have a high-quality selection of coffee products as well. The Coffee Shoppe’s coffee beans are hand-picked and organically-grown in Kenya, Costa Rica, and Sumatra before being roasted “locally and brought to your cup with the freshest taste possible,” as the company’s webpage tells curious visitors. For non-coffee drinkers, milk, water, tea, and orange juice are also available.
Even though Ethereal Cupcakes and Coffee Shoppe’s high-quality menu have earned quite a lot of praise from the local community, it is their dedication to providing excellent customer service that truly sets them apart from other confectionary establishments. On several occasions, Loranzo Whitfield’s business has been featured in The Daily Press for their excellent service. Part of this is because when you talk to Loranzo, you get the feeling that yes, while he knows how to handle his business, he is far more interested in making his customers happy than anything else. People come first in Loranzo’s eyes. Even if he only had one customer, Loranzo will make sure that this one customer leaves his establishment happier than when he or she entered.
Whitfield even supports local community events, and, as he states in an article for The Daily Press, he hosts an “Open Mic Night” every Wednesday from 6-9 p.m. for aspiring “poets, musicians, dancers, singers, and actors” in the Hampton Roads area. This open mic night gives people a chance to share their talents with the community, and, as Loranzo notes, “parents know that their kids aren’t in any trouble here.” Giving teens and young adults a positive outlet for their creative endeavors allows them to find their niche and grow as positive, active members of the Hampton Roads community.
After being featured in The Daily Press, Loranzo decided to display his achievement with a crystalline acrylic article plaque from In The News. The clear acrylic frame lets the plaque itself blend in to the décor of Ethereal Cupcakes and Coffee Shoppe, even as the professional engraving and arrangement of the article draws customer attention. Plus, the protective acrylic prevents the article from becoming yellowed by exposure to air, and stain-free in case of an accidental spill or impact with the delicious, sugary product in the store.
For Mr. Whitfield’s customers, the plaque serves as a physical proof of the dedication and effort that the Ethereal Cupcakes team puts into making the cupcake eating experience as perfect as possible for all of their customers. By framing his article and putting it on display, Mr. Whitfield can demonstrate to his customers that his business is a reputable, proven provider of top-quality confections and coffee. For any new business, being able to establish a positive reputation with customers and demonstrating that you can be trusted is a necessity. Without that trust, customers are less able to make that decision to use your business, whatever it is.
Thankfully, Loranzo’s cupcakes and coffee are superb enough to sell themselves. However, a little help never hurts.
Loranzo’s In The News plaque will last for decades, allowing him to continue sharing the remarkable success story of his business with new customers for years to come. And, should Loranzo decide to take his trophy home, the clear acrylic will fit in with the décor of his home just as easily as it matches his business’ décor. Ethereal Cupcake’s story can be shared with future generations thanks to Loranzo’s custom-crafted and engraved plaque.
We here at In The News are proud that we were able to help Loranzo immortalize his accomplishments and then share those accomplishments with his customers. We hope that Mr. Whitfield continues to enjoy success as a provider of gourmet confections and that he continues to be featured in the news for years to come.
If you would like to create a custom-crafted acrylic article plaque to commemorate your own recent achievements, please try our plaque creation process to get started.
