Gelato treat for crowd of SoShiok app users

SINGAPORE - A large crowd turned up at 100AM mall at Tanjong Pagar yesterday for free gelato from Alfero Artisan Gelato.

The giveaway was among a series of goodies for users of Singapore Press Holdings' (SPH) SoShiok app, which was relaunched in January for iPhone users. An Android version of the app was introduced earlier this week.

The first 500 iPhone and Android phone users to have the app downloaded on their mobile phones got to enjoy a scoop of gelato, available in flavours such as raspberry, pistachio and durian. Alfero will also be giving out gelato at its store in Marina Square today and tomorrow.

Yesterday, a crowd made a beeline for the pushcart before the giveaway was scheduled to start at noon, and all the treats were given out by 1.40pm.

Alfero Artisan Gelato's owner, Mr Marco Alfero, 40, is anticipating giving out even more cups at Marina Square this weekend.

Users gave the app the thumbs up. SoShiok offers foodies the latest food news, restaurant reviews, recommendations and recipes from SPH's English newspapers: The Straits Times, The Sunday Times, The Business Times, The New Paper and MyPaper.

Temp worker Hazel Chan, 18, dropped by for the free gelato and said she liked the graphics in the app.

"It is quite convenient and easy to navigate," she said. "If I meet up with friends but am unfamiliar with the place, I can use the app to find good food in that area."

Ms Angela Tiong, 27, a public relations consultant, said she liked the comprehensive content.

She said: "It has food delivery, recipes and table reservations all in one app, and those three are the ones that I would use most often." Since the relaunch, there have been 93,411 downloads of both the iPhone and Android versions of the app.

The app can be downloaded for free at the Apple App Store for iPhone users and the Google Play Store for Android phone users. The iPad version of the app will be available soon.

Alfero Artisan Gelato will be giving out more scoops today and tomorrow at its store on the second level of Marina Square shopping mall from 2pm to 4pm, while stocks last. The Straits Times food critic Wong Ah Yoke will be present at today's giveaway, while food editor Tan Hsueh Yun will be there tomorrow.

rachell@sph.com.sg

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