Summer is here, and ice cream has once again become an essential treat for people to cool off and quench their thirst. For those who want to open an ice cream shop, choosing a suitable commercial soft serve ice cream machine is crucial. So, how to choose a commercial soft serve ice cream machine? Today, I will share with you a few points to consider:

1. Determine Production Needs

During peak sales periods, which are the times when demand for ice cream is highest, how many ice cream cones do you need to make? The number of ice cream cones that need to be made during peak periods may be affected by various factors, such as the location of the store, seasonal factors, weather conditions, and promotional activities. The store owner can predict how many ice cream cones need to be made during peak sales periods based on historical sales data to ensure that customer demand can be met without causing waste. Store owners who have not yet opened a store can predict by observing and analyzing the sales of businesses in nearby areas.

2. Determine the Number of Flavors

Why is it necessary to determine the number of flavors?

Determining the number of flavors of a commercial soft serve ice cream machine is crucial because it will affect the machine configuration, production efficiency, raw material inventory, and customer experience.

A single-cylinder machine can only make one flavor, while a multi-cylinder machine can make multiple flavors. If you need to make multiple flavors, you need to choose a multi-cylinder machine, otherwise it will reduce production efficiency.

Different flavors require different raw materials. If you provide multiple flavors, you need to store more raw materials, which will increase inventory costs and management difficulty.

Providing customers with a variety of flavors can improve customer satisfaction, but if too many flavors are offered, it may make it difficult for customers to choose, which may instead degrade customer experience.

Therefore, it is necessary to comprehensively consider your own sales needs, store area, budget, and other factors to determine the appropriate number of flavors.

How to determine the number of flavors

Here are some methods for determining the number of flavors:

• Analyze historical sales data: If you have been in business for a while, you can analyze historical sales data to see which flavors of ice cream are more popular.
• Conduct market research: You can survey your target customers to understand their favorite ice cream flavors.
• Refer to the experience of peers: You can consult with the owners of other ice cream shops to learn from their experience.

Recommendations

In general, it is recommended to offer 1-3 flavors of ice cream for newly opened ice cream shops to meet the needs of different customers. As the store’s business grows, you can adjust the number of flavors based on the actual situation.

3. Determine the Machine Size

Choose between a countertop or floor model. If your store has limited space, consider a countertop machine. If your store has the space, a floor model machine is more convenient to move.

4. Determine the Desired Ice Cream Texture

Pump fed machines produce smoother and fluffier ice cream. The same weight of ice cream mix can be used to make larger ice cream cones. While improving the taste, it can also increase the profit margin of a single ice cream cone. The pump fed machine feed the ice cream mix into the freezing cylinder by pressure, and the air content of the ice cream is high. However, compared to gravity fed machines, pump fed machines have higher upfront investment costs, and installation and cleaning are more complex.

5. Pre-cooling function, which is the fresh-keeping function of the mix tank

This function is still relatively important and can improve the convenience of the merchant’s use of the machine. It is especially important for situations where the frequency of adding ice cream mix is relatively low.

6. Overnight fresh-keeping function

This function makes it possible to not have to clean the machine every day. However, it is recommended to clean it daily, or every three days, or at least once a week. In addition, during periods of non-sale, starting this function can save power and reduce electricity costs.

7. Determine Your Budget

Choose the best performance within your budget.

8. After-sales Warranty

I hope these tips can help you choose the right commercial soft serve ice cream machine for your business!

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