How to choose the best iced coffee dispenser for coffee shops

Key takeaways

• Using an iced coffee dispenser for coffee shops, you can speed up service and ensure consistent quality.
• Systems like Flo-Smart eliminate concerns around spillage and over-pouring, which minimises waste and keeps preparation areas cleaner.
• The best iced coffee dispenser can also pour a range of other drinks to seamlessly match consumer trends.
  

For busy coffee shops with a high volume of customers, ensuring speed and efficiency is a top priority. Otherwise, you’ll end up with long queues, dissatisfied visitors, and a potential loss of revenue. Therefore, choosing the right iced coffee dispenser for coffee shops can be a huge operational decision.

Before investing in equipment, you should determine what you want it to do, how it fits into your existing workflows, and its scope for expansion and iteration. It’s a process that requires plenty of consideration, but the benefits are significant when you make the right choice.

To learn more about what an iced coffee dispenser for coffee shops should do, I spoke to Benjamin Kozica-O’Callaghan. He is the owner and head roaster at Five Ways Coffee, a Dutch roastery with coffee shops across Amsterdam. Read on for his insight.

What do coffee shops need from an iced coffee dispenser?

When choosing your iced coffee dispenser, coffee shops should look for equipment that minimises mess, optimises storage space, and ensures that each drink is as high-quality as the next.

“When we’re picking an iced coffee dispenser for our shop, we need something that’s fast, precise, and versatile,” Benjamin tells me.

Traditionally, coffee shop staff would make iced coffee by hand by pouring milk from bottles or cartons and adding an espresso shot, measuring each drink by eye. The potential issues are vast: your staff may accidentally spill a carton or over-pour and have to dispose of wasted product, which could make your workspace less hygienic. Automated solutions eliminate these concerns by dispensing pre-prepared iced coffee from bespoke containers or industry-standard bladders.

Flo-Smart iced coffee dispensers have automatic, preset options for hands-free pouring. Once you’ve established your desired volumes for each serving beforehand, all your staff need to do is tap the chosen size, and the machine does the rest. Not only is this ideal for guaranteeing consistent volumes, but it also reduces time spent on staff training.

“With Flo-Smart, there’s no more fumbling with cartons,” Benjamin adds. “One tap gives us the perfect amount every time.”

You can also choose from two other pouring options for more control or one-off solutions. It has a semi-automatic setting that uses preset sizes as you press on the touch-screen or a fully manual press-and-hold setting. “There’s no more over-pouring and no waste,” he says.

How beneficial is an iced coffee dispenser for coffee shops?

Iced coffee dispensers for coffee shops are incredibly beneficial due to the time and cost savings they can provide. With Flo-Smart, you can dispense a pre-prepared serving of iced coffee in just six seconds, hugely speeding up service delivery compared to manual methods.

This saves time for your staff, as they don’t need to add espresso or syrups to prepare the iced coffee. At the same time, you’re saving money on spoiled product from spillages and enjoying lower input costs due to the minimised manual labour.

These time savings are particularly important for high-volume coffee shops. During peak times, potential customers may be put off by long queues or standing around as they wait for their drink. By using an iced coffee dispenser, you can serve customers much more quickly to significantly reduce wait times. Similarly, the small form factor frees up space for your baristas to prepare other drinks.

The increased efficiency from an automatic iced coffee dispenser also enhances the customer experience. This is especially important for coffee shops, where customers are willing to return to those with good service and personalised experiences.

Not only can you serve customers faster, but visually appealing, automated systems also build a reputation for premium quality and service. “It creates happy customers – faster service equals repeat business,” he says.

Using Flo-Smart’s adjustable portion control, you can also cater to a range of customer needs on the fly. For example, if one customer orders a large iced coffee and the next a medium, you can automatically dispense the right amount of liquid.

Flo-Smart machines have two- and four-tap options so you can change drinks in an instant. For compliance with allergen regulations, this versatility is essential. “We need different pours on demand, so the multi-container system is a game-changer,” he says.

What other drinks can you prepare with an iced coffee dispenser?

Iced coffee dispensers for coffee shops, such as Flo-Smart systems, can pour more than just one drink. As consumer trends constantly change, investing in versatile equipment means you can easily adjust to new tastes and demands.

“We get creative – beyond oat, pea, and dairy milk, we use house-made nut milks that stay chilled and are ready to pour,” Benjamin says. By using them to prepare iced coffee before dispensing it, you can hugely diversify your existing menu.

The ideal iced coffee dispenser can dispense other drinks, too. For example, Flo-Smart is also capable of dispensing matcha, wine, espresso concentrate, and any other chilled, non-carbonated beverage of your choice. Due to the multiple taps, it means you can pour matcha with one tap and iced coffee with the other, serving multiple customers simultaneously.

Equally, it’s an investment in future trends that may not have emerged yet. Take matcha as an example: in the past 12 months, it has become a hugely popular drink and is now valued at almost $5 billion.

With equipment to dispense matcha on demand, you don’t need to invest in new machinery to match the trend and appeal to a new demographic. Equally, you’ll be ready as soon as emerging drinks, such as turmeric coffee, further penetrate the market.

Therefore, choosing the best iced coffee dispenser comes with a number of considerations. You need to keep service speed and cost savings in mind, ensuring you can turn customers around fast and minimise waste. However, the best dispenser will be capable of doing more than just iced coffee – meaning you’re agile, versatile, and can meet ever-evolving consumer tastes.

To get a quote on a Flo-Smart iced coffee dispenser for coffee shops and more, visit our website or get in touch with us directly.

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