Making Your Ice Cream Shop Menu Stand Out
How Important Is Creating The Right Ice Cream Shop Menu?
Very. Since we are all complex individuals, let us start off by saying there is no ideal menu to suit everyone’s needs. However, a menu is such a big part of the success of your store that you should put a lot of thought, effort and attention into when first creating it.
Menu is Marketing
Menu is just a list of products and prices. Your menu is your branding. It’s something they read in the store and something they may take with them. For that reason alone it makes sense to have your branding and logo on it. Imagine when they take that menu home and hang it on their refrigerator, everytime they walk by and see your logo on that menu they’ll be reminded of your delicious creations.
Menu Matches Culture
Creating the right ice cream shop menu
When designing your menu keep in mind the culture of your store. The menu should reflect the personality and fun culture that makes up your store. Make sure it reflects the atmosphere you’ve built inside the store and has some character as a stand-alone piece. Remember menu matches culture and the dishes you are displaying on the menu should reflect that.
Be Visual
Help customers see the creations you offer by including pictures in your menu. Pictures sell and they can really help you sell the creations you can’t have out on display all day. This is a very visual business and pictures can be a big part of your marketing. Beyond pictures for your menu you should be thinking about your social media channels and using your pictures to attract new customers.
Be Clear
Though you want a visually unique menu that stands out, it’s important to clearly lay the content out. The last thing a customer wants is to be confused when reading the menu. Remember, people read left to right so you might want to think about placing the higher end items or best selling items on the left so people read them first. Product placement and legibility can have a big effect on sales for the best products you offer.
Price Elimination
Keep the focus on the product and not on the cost. You can avoid tire kickers and price shoppers by ditching the prices on the menu. If you do put prices on your menu, you should think about eliminating the dollar sign. The dollar sign can have psychological impact on the customer to avoid higher end products. Remember to always due your diligence and see what the competition in your area is charging. This doesn’t mean you have to charge less, it just gives you a measure of price but does not take into account creativity and ingredients.
Be Creative
Be creative, don’t be boring and copy other people’s creations. One of the best parts of owning your own shop is that you can get creative and experiment with your own creations. You can be an artist and create your own editable masterpieces that will keep customers coming back. Make your products and business stand out from the rest. Use different ingredients and flavors to create unique products that customers can only get at your place.
Words Matter
You’ll want to make sure you get creative with your words when describing your creations. Don’t just settle for a direct description of what it is, try to convey how it will taste or how they will feel after while eating it. Get your thesaurus out and start using some delicious adjectives to describe the items throughout the menu. Think carefully about how you describe your sizes as well. Could you use something other than just small, medium or large.
It’s going to be important to review your menu every season to review what’s selling and not selling well. Analyzing your menu every year allows you to adjust your products, ingredients and pricing. If something didn’t make you money last year perhaps eliminate it this year. By constantly monitoring and adjusting your ice cream shop menu you’ll be setting yourself up for future success.
Hand Dipped Ice Cream Machines
Ice cream shops across the Ohio valley have been serving America’s favorite dessert (ice cream) to customers for generations. At ADI, we’ve had a lot to do with that as we’ve been delivering quality and reliable hand dipped ice cream machines to storefronts all across the Ohio Valley for many years. There’s a reason the most successful ice cream shop owners across the valley come to us when it’s time for new ice cream equipment or parts – because we are the exclusive dealer of Electro Freeze in Ohio. No other line of ice cream machines have consistently proved themselves in reliability and and product consistency like the Electro Freeze line of frozen dessert machines.
With the variety of ice cream offerings and frozen treats available to everyone nowadays it’s important to note that Electro Freeze makes a machine for whichever product you serve at your ice cream shop. Whether it be water ice, custard, gelato or you go the traditional route and use one of our hand dipped ice cream machines, you can increase profits while maintaining (even lowering) costs with an Electro Freeze machine. An Electro Freeze hand dipped ice cream machine will help you create delicious, authentic, creamy, consistent and flavorful frozen dessert treats like frozen custard, water ice, gelato, sorbets and ice cream. Using an Electro Freeze hand dipped ice cream machine is just the beginning benefit when it comes to creating a genuinely unique product and generating profits in your shop. Combined with ADIEF’s customer focused business-building insights we’ll help you maximize your profits and grow your customer base all without compromising your unique, quality product. Of course, we can only call your product unique and quality if you’re making it on your own with an Electro Freeze machine. To use any other machine would put your product and store at risk. You need reliability, consistency.
You can add more customers with the right machine
Purchasing, renting or leasing a new piece of equipment for your business is a big decision – and a big risk if you don’t choose the right piece of equipment. When choosing the right piece of equipment for your shop you’ll want assurance from the distributor and manufacturer that the machine delivers and adheres to the highest quality standards and support. That’s the kind of commitment you can expect from ADI and Electro Freeze. The great thing about the hand dipped ice cream machines from ADI and Electro Freeze is that the machines are known to be so reliable that little maintenance and replacement parts are needed throughout it’s life cycle. That relates to very little down time (if any) and very little cost associated with the maintenance, repair and replacement parts. That up-time translates into more product you can produce and the more consistent your product will be.
By adding a hand dipped ice cream machine in your store you will have the potential to create just about any dessert for you customer. This means you get to be very creative with you ingredients and flavors because you’ll be making everything from scratch. Whether you want to stick to the traditional flavors of chocolate and vanilla or start producing products to match the trends like organic and vegan products, you’ll be in good hands with an Electro Freeze machine.
The Best Commercial Ice Cream Machine
One question we get the most often is: What is the best commercial ice cream machine for my ice cream shop? It may seem like a simple question, the answer however is a bit more complicated than just spouting out a machine and model number. There are a lot of factors that go into buying a machine for your shop and being that your shop is different from the thousands of other shops out there – there are many variables you will need to consider before purchasing the best commercial ice cream machine. Now, overwhelmingly when we get asked that question, our immediate response is always Electro Freeze machines, but that’s only answers half of the question. Before we can provide a real answer, we’ll need some additional information about your store.
Ice cream and frozen dessert shop owners know that when it comes to making their product, the machines they use to make and serve it is in direct correlation to the quality of product they serve to their customers. As a shop owners we all want to provide the best quality ice cream to our patrons, no matter what, that’s what keeps them coming back. There are many steps that go into making ice cream on a large scale and being consistent with those steps every time gives you the best chance to keep your product consistent with quality. However if you throw a unreliable machine into that equation, your recipe for quality and consistency goes right out the window. So, the best commercial ice cream machine will naturally be made with care using quality parts and as you are aware, high quality usually comes at a price. Not that it’s a bad thing, because that saying, you get what you pay for is usually true. If you spend the extra money upfront on a quality machine like the Electro Freeze line then it will save you money down the road with less breakdowns and replacement parts needed, plus it will provide you with a consistent quality product time and time again.
As your ice cream shop partner and consultant we like to make you aware of several factors that you need to consider when purchasing, renting or leasing the best commercial ice cream machine. 
As we mentioned, most every ice cream shop is different or unique in their own way which means every location is a bit different. Depending where your store is located, the square footage available and the set up of your shop will be an important factor when choosing a machine. Whether it’s in a strip mall, retail mall, a downtown district or a stand alone building, how much room you have for your machines will be something to consider. For example if you have a self service shop with the machines in the wall, you may not need a standing full length machine…a counter top model might work better for you. If space is not an issue then using a full length standing machine can work for you and the nice thing about these machines are that they usually come with casters so you can move it wherever.
How much frozen product are you going to be making and serving to your customers. In order to find the best commercial ice cream machine for your business, you’ll need to know what capacity machine you’ll need. If you’re doing high volume then you’ll want a high capacity machine. If you’re serving a lower number of people, then a lower capacity machine might work better for your shop and budget.
What is your specialty product? You may specialize in one product that outsells everything else. Depending what product that is, there may be a machine specifically for such product. For example if milkshakes are your forte then you would want to look at the Electro Freeze CS700 milkshake machine.
Though these are just a few examples, there are many other factors that go into finding the ideal machine for your shop. If you’re interested in finding out more about specific machines then contact us for a consultation – we’ll help you find the best commercial ice cream machine for your business.
Self Serve Frozen Yogurt Machines
self serve frozen yogurt machines
If you run a self service ice cream shop then you know how important it is to have the right self serve frozen yogurt machines in your store to deliver quality products. The pride you feel when delivering the finest quality product to your customers is unmatched. But aside from just delivering a good product to your customers, the machines in your store need to be dependable, reliable and easy to use as well.
Choosing the right machines for your ice cream or frozen yogurt shop will make or break your business. You can choose to purchase a lower cost machine which will save you money upfront, but will cost more in the long term to maintain over time because of constant break downs and needed repairs. Spending a little more upfront will mean a higher quality machine that will produce consistently for years to come with little maintenance costs. There are several advantages to purchasing a high quality self serve frozen yogurt machine for your store. Dependability and usability are high on that list but just as important is the quality of product you provide to your customers. The reputation of any frozen dessert shop has a lot to do with delivering a quality product while providing the best service to your customers. Delivering the best product has everything to do with using the right self serve frozen yogurt machine. You want a machine that will churn out product consistently day after day. Inconsistency in your product will not keep your customers coming back, providing a consistent product will.
Dependable and reliable machines like the Electro Freeze brand can last many years with proper maintenance. Know that if you pay a little more for a machine upfront, it can save you a lot of money down the road. You never want to tell customers you can’t service them because your machine is broke and is in need of repair. Not only is that bad for business but bad for your wallet – buying new parts or paying a repairman will only eat into your profits. When you buy a quality machine it will pay for itself many times over in the long run because it’s made with care using quality parts and machinery. Bottom line, it will run more efficiently, at longer hours with less mechanical breakdowns. What’s more, if you do have a self serve shop, you may not have a trained person pouring the the product at all times, but rather the general public. That means the machines will not only have to be durable but easy to use.
Self serve frozen yogurt machines come in both floor models and counter top models. Depending on how your store is setup you may have a preference for one over the other. Floor models are on rollers and extend from the floor up and are generally high capacity. An example of a high capacity floor model is the SLX 400C or SLX500 from Electro Freeze. If you’re tight on space or want a lower capacity machine you could consider a counter-top model such as the CS4 or CS8 from Electro Freeze. Regardless of which one of these machines you purchase, you’ll be making quality frozen yogurt for years to come.
If you are an owner of a restaurant and want to add additional offerings to your menu, these machines make a worth while investment. They can add a whole new revenue stream to your business.