Summer is upon us! Everyone can remember looking forward to getting a milkshake or slushy with friends on hot, summer days.

It was a cherished reward after a long day of playing outside; an innocent nightcap for you and your friends from the local ice cream shop or park concession stand. They really were the cherry on top of great summer vacation days as a kid; a delicious frozen treat to heal those skinned knees and tired souls…

Since it is frozen drink season, we thought we would remind you that the frozen stuff isn’t just for grown-ups at your bar. Any good summer menu includes a couple of frozen offerings that are alcohol free. This is one of the easiest choices in menu management. With the right products you can get folks to trade from a soda to a cold, fresh and delicious frozen concoction.

This is where we hear operators groaning about frozen drinks.

They are messy. They take too much time. The bartenders HATE them.

Those, my friends, are excuses. If you are organized for frozen drinks, then they are totally manageable, both in terms of cleanliness and time. As far as the bartenders are concerned, you’re the leader, so lead. They will understand if you manage them like adults.

frozen drinks for teenagers & smoothies can boost restaurant profits

If you want to simplify matters, you can also consider a drink system. For example, we recently learned about f’real’s blended drink system and it really removes all excuses an operator could have from building frozen drinks into their menus. Press a button and 30 seconds later you have a delicious drink with minimal clean up and no added ingredients to manage or store. One cup + one button = one blended drink. It is that easy. Everyone is far closer to a successful blended drink program than they could ever have imagined!

A significant amount of marketing is aimed at children by restaurants and that should tell us something. Clearly children direct parents to their favorite places for their favorite items. Certainly, opening your frozen drink menu to your junior guests by delivering them alcohol-free options is a smart strategy.

Oh, and non-alcoholic frozen drinks also very profitable.

non-alcoholic frozen drinks are profitable for restaurants

Let us remind you that you don’t deposit percentages. So even though the soda has a 10% cost of goods sold (COGS) it only delivers about $1.80 in profit. However, a great alcohol-free frozen drink can return double or more depending on how you present and garnish them. The question isn’t why you aren’t adding frozen drinks to your summer alcohol-free offerings, but why you aren’t actively promoting them.

Frozen drink season is here, so to try some new things.

Your alcohol-free beverage program should always be reviewed. Using a seasonal approach just makes sense. With easy systems for creating your menu and drinks, the excuses go away. Take a shot, drive eyes to your alcohol-free menu, and see how you profit from the effort.