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Fine bone china manufacturer Royal Crown Derby has extended its reach into the hospitality market, through a new partnership with café tea room and craft bakery business Bettys.
Based in Yorkshire, Bettys operates six Cafe Tea Rooms, across the region, along with its own Cookery School, Craft Bakery and home delivery service.
The Derby tabletop supplier, which offers a bespoke service to high-end brand hotel and food service establishments, is supplying two of Bettys’ Café Tea Rooms with a tableware collection for the reservation-only ‘Lady Betty Afternoon Tea’ dining experience.
The ‘Lady Betty Afternoon Tea’ menu is inspired by Bettys’ best loved pâtisserie and favourite Tea Rooms specialities, including a selection of sandwiches made with breads from its Craft Bakery, savouries, two types of freshly baked scones and a range of miniature cakes. A selection of rare and fine teas complement the menu.
‘Lady Betty Afternoon Tea’ is exclusively served at Bettys’ Harrogate and York branches, with music from the cafe pianist completing the sense of occasion. It is presented on a silver three-tiered stand and served on fine bone china.
The initial order for the specially commissioned collection includes a 23.5cm plate, 16cm plate, tea cup and tea saucer. Each piece is hand-embellished with a bespoke tea leaf design created for Bettys by Royal Crown Derby.
The collection, which was designed by Royal Crown Derby creative director Andrew Klimecki, was inspired by a tea leaf design discovered in the company’s extensive pattern archives, which dates back to the year that Bettys was launched: 1919. The 3,300 piece order was produced at the Osmaston Road factory in Derby.
Bettys retail and catering operations director Paula Kaye said: “When we were looking for a British manufacturer to produce a bespoke set of fine bone china for our new ‘Lady Betty Afternoon Tea’, one name stood out: Royal Crown Derby. Like Bettys, Royal Crown Derby has a long tradition of the finest craftsmanship and attention to detail in creating things of real beauty.
Christopher Oakes, sales & marketing director of Royal Crown Derby commented: “With our shared British heritage, focus on artisanship and mission to deliver the experience of luxury and indulgence to our customers, there is a clear synergy between our two established brands.
“Bettys (https://www.bettys.co.uk/ ] is known and loved the world over and we are honoured to have been selected to provide the fine bone china collection for its exquisite ‘Lady Betty Afternoon Tea’. We worked closely with the team at Bettys throughout our bespoke programme, from design consultation and pattern development to durability testing in our in-house laboratory.
“We are extremely proud of this new union between two established British heritage brands, whose foundations are rooted in skilled craftsmanship, and we look forward to developing this blossoming relationship.”
