Smoothies are a perfect anytime treat; they are refreshing and delicious! They are also a great addition to any frozen yogurt shop or cafe. Smoothies are simple to make. All you need is a blender, ice, fruit, and Nanci’s Smoothie Base Mix. Nanci’s smoothies are made with natural ingredients and sweetened with pure crystalline fructose instead of corn syrup, so they are a healthier way to boost your energy! You can even add nutritional supplements like protein or immune booster to any smoothie to increase the health benefits.
How to Make Nanci’s Smoothies:
Step 1: Prepare Nanci’s Smoothie Base Mix by adding 1 cup powder base to 3 cups water.Step 1: Stir powder and water mixture and store in refrigerator. Prepared base is good for 2 weeks in fridge.Step 2: Add ice and Nanci’s prepared smoothie base to blender.Step 3: Add fruit, juice, and boosters.Step 4: Blend for 45 seconds. Enjoy!
Here at Nanci’s we’ve been working on some new recipes for you to try. Let us know what you think!
MANGO MANIA
6 oz Nanci’s Smoothie Base
2 oz orange juice
4 oz mangos
2 oz strawberries
12 oz ice
Blend
Yield: 20 oz
PEANUT BUTTER BONANZA
6 oz Nanci’s Smoothie Base
2 spoonfuls creamy peanut butter
½ banana
12 oz ice
Blend
Yield: 20 oz
PINEAPPLE PUNCH
6 oz Nancis’ Smoothie Base
2 oz strawberry
2 oz blueberry
2 oz pineapple
¼ banana
12 oz ice
Yield: 20 oz
SUMMER CHILL
4 oz Nanci’s Smoothie Base
2 oz apple
1 peeled kiwi
12 oz ice
Yield: 20 oz
PEACH-BERRY COLADA
6 oz Nanci’s Smoothie Base
2 oz strawberry
4 oz peach
1 oz coconut
12 oz ice
Yield: 20 oz
Nanci’s smoothies are simple, even for those who have no experience making them. A bag of Nanci’s Smoothie Base Mix will yield over 150 smoothies following the recipes above. All you need is a blender, ice, fruit, and Nancis’ Smoothie Mix. They are tastier and healthier since Nanci’s smoothies are sweetened with pure pure crystalline fructose instead of cane sugar and the recipes utilize real natural fruit. Using a smoothie base mix is important because it sweetens and enhances the natural fruit flavors along with also providing a smooth and creamy texture. Including smoothies and boosters in your shop is a great way to expand your menu and your customer base. Visit the Nanci’s Smoothie page for more information and www.FroCup.com to place your order.
So, which size cup should I be using in my ice cream store?
When faced with the decision of what size ice cream or frozen yogurt cup to use in your store, several options probably come to mind. Cup sizes range anywhere from a small 4 ounce (oz) size cup to an enormous 32 oz cup. Surely there has to be an optimal size to make it easier on you as the business owner and to satisfy your customers. Nanci’s experience with soft-serve over several decades has lead us to just the answer: the 10 oz cup and the 14 oz cup. These are two new shapes pioneered by Nanci’s and available exclusively at FroCup.com. They are a perfect fit for self-serve customers! Both the new 10 oz and the new 14 oz cups have a fun and modern light swirl design around the outside and are made of a strong, durable paper material that doesn’t tear or seep at the seams. So why are these new sizes better than what you’re currently using?
10 oz – Small
This new shallow/wide shape is perfect for families with children. As you can see in the picture above, the 10 oz cup fills quickly and, due to the height of the cup, the yogurt spirals above the top to give it a nice and full look where the yogurt seems to be brimming to the top. As the yogurt melts and the customer digs in, the width will catch any running liquid or toppings from making a mess. Since it has the same width as a standard 16 oz cup, you can actually fit both your small and large cups in the same cup holders if desired.
According to our research, we have found the 10 oz cup is the ideal ‘small size cup’ to carry in your store. It has enough volume to hold yogurt for a customer who may just want a few bites – perfect for kids. It is the best of both worlds – wide enough to handle all the toppings your customer wants to add yet shallow enough to still look full. This perception of a full cup is key to a customer making their way back to your store in the future; you want them to feel as if they are getting the best ‘bang for their buck’.
Comparison of the new 10 and 14 oz cups next to the 16 oz on the right.
14 oz – Large
The 14 oz cup is a deeper cup. It has a large volume and can hold a full pound of yogurt. And it has the same wide diameter as a standard 16 oz cup so it can easily handle all the toppings your customer wants to add. What makes the 14 oz superior to the 16 oz is the shorter height of the 14 oz. As you compare the 14 oz and the 16 oz cups, you see a clear difference in the presentation of the yogurt. The yogurt in each cup is the same amount, however it stands up much taller in the 14 oz and it looks much fuller. The 16 oz cup drowns the yogurt a bit, and the customers may feel they aren’t getting as much product as they really are getting. A full 16 oz cup of yogurt is a lot even for those with the biggest appetites and we have found that it is often not necessary to have that large of a cup in stock. A hungry customer will fill the 14 oz cup to a swirl above the rim and be satisfied with their eyes, tummy and wallet.
The 10 oz and the 14 oz are the perfect sizes whether you are just starting up a new shop, or you have owned a shop for years. FroCup has 4 vibrant colors to choose from: orange, blue, green, and pink. The swirl design is popular among both young and old alike. Also available is a convenient one-size-fits-all clear dome lid for the 10 oz, 14 oz, and 16 oz cups. It’s easy to make the switch and increase your store’s customer satisfaction and perceived value. Give Nanci’s a call at 1-800-788-0808 or order online today at www.frocup.com.
The popular Swirl design is available in 12 color/size combinations.Note the more appealing and satisfying look of the swirl in the shorter height cups.
16 oz, 20oz and Larger
The 16 ounce, 20 ounce, or larger cups give you more options for your frozen yogurt shop. You can use these cups for ice cream, gelato, soft-serve, parfait, or really anything. Paper cups are a great option for both dine-in or take-out customers. Ice cream cups are also available in a range of materials – from thick, durable paper to plastic. Cups for ice cream sundaes or gelato parfaits can even include lids to keep the toppings and sauces contained until the moment of serving. Ice cream cups are really versatile, and as a result you’ll likely want to stock up on more than one type. These larger sized ice cream cups allow your customers to take larger amounts home. You’ll want to make sure you have lids available.
How to buy ice cream shop cups at wholesale pricing?
Here’s a secret of how to be creative in your business…name your business something that you don’t even sell! Johnny Cupcakes has nothing to do with cupcakes. They don’t even sell food items. I saw the Johnny Cupcakes logo about a dozen times before I actually figured out what they do. But I’ll save you some time…they sell T-shirts. I attended a presentation by Johnny Earle, the founder of Johnny Cupcakes, and he is hands down one of the most creative guys around. I’d like to share a few things I learned about creativity…but not about cupcakes.
Earle started in 2001 selling shirts out of a suitcase while he toured with his heavy metal band. Now Johnny Cupcakes is a multi-million dollar business with 40+ employees and multiple retail locations. At openings and product launches, hundreds of customers show up and the line often wraps around the block. At the heart of Earle’s success is CREATIVITY.
Here are a few examples of how he mixes things up:
Packaging. Packaging for their T-shirts have included a cupcake box, an ice cream carton, push up popsicle package, takeout Chinese food container, fake VCR case, playing cards box…you get the idea. He’s been known to write personal notes on orders or even randomly include batteries or a doll’s head in the box. Yes, a doll’s head. He views each order as an experience for the customer, and the packaging is a big driver of that experience. Earle’s believes that customers talk about these kind of strange experiences and become evangelists of his brand.
Retail store experience. Johnny Cupcakes’ retail stores are another huge part of the crazy experience. The stores are designed to look like bakeries with shirts in glass bakery display cases and vintage baking equipment as decor. They often have people stand in line to buy actual cupcakes, only to find out after 45 minutes of waiting that there are no cupcakes to be had. On April Fool’s Day one year, they switched one of the stores over to an actual bakery and sold cupcakes all day instead of shirts. If someone came to purchase a shirt they wouldn’t sell it to them — because for that one day they were a cupcake store.
Scarcity. Product scarcity is another tool Earle uses effectively. He runs limited edition prints of shirts that create a frenzied demand. At their retail stores, they sold a limited-time breakfast shirt and the only offered it during breakfast hours. If you showed up at 2 pm, you couldn’t buy the breakfast shirt — just like the fast food places that cut off breakfast 5 minutes before you get there.
Cross promotions. Johnny Cupcakes does cross promotions with various other brands to create unique products and T-shirts designs. They’ve done cross promotions with The Simpsons, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Looney Tunes. When they posted on Facebook a promotion with Hello Kitty, their website crashed. Not every business can partner with Hello Kitty and Looney Tunes, but there are local brands or personalities you could do cross promotions with.
Brand identity. Johnny Cupcakes has created fierce brand loyalty — to the point that people even get tattoos of the Johnny Cupcakes logo. They foster this loyalty by creating a unique and unpredictable brand in a consistent way. Unpredictability and consistency may seem to be opposites, but Johnny Cupcakes has consistently been unpredictable, unique, and bizarre — creating a solid brand identify that people can rely on.
Attention to detail. Some of the best ways to leverage creativity is attention to detail. Johnny Cupcakes uses every little detail of their store, packaging, and the actual T-shirts to create a unique customer experience. Attention to detail doesn’t necessarily mean higher costs. It just takes more effort.
“Make your customers feel like it’s their birthday every time they make a purchase.” – Johnny Earle
How can you apply these learnings to your small business?
Every business can surprise their customers and every business can have excellent attention to detail. Creativity is not copying what Johnny Cupcakes has done. It’s coming up with your own ideas. Things that will be consistent with your brand and will bring a smile to your customer’s face.
Here are a few creative ideas you could use in a frozen yogurt shop:
Tape a $5 bill to the inside of one of the yogurt cups with a note that says “Enjoy one on me” and signed by the owner. Then put it back in the stack up cups for a lucky customer to find.
Use collectible spoons. Find unique spoons that people will want to take home. Switch out colors and varieties so people will keep coming back for the next spoon. Orange Leaf stores used to melt spoons into a bracelet for kids to wear and take home. I know my kids wanted to go there just for the spoons.
Impromptu pizza party. Randomly bring in pizza for everyone in your shop. Just give it away for free. If there is a pizza shop near you, buy it from them and leverage cross promotion. Maybe they’ll be willing to do an impromptu frozen yogurt party at their shop.
Unique toppings and flavors. What if you served chocolate covered grass hoppers as a topping. Even if nobody bought them, they would definitely tell their friends about it. You could switch out a strange topping or flavor every week to keep the intrigue alive.
Create a unique store experience. The boom of frozen yogurt stores has resulted in a cookie cutter approach to designing and running self-serve frozen yogurt shops. Don’t be afraid to break the mold and be DIFFERENT. Use details to be creative: floor mats, flavor names, decorations in the bathroom, staff T-shirts, napkins, etc. Customers spend 5-20 minutes in your store – make their visit bigger than just eating frozen yogurt. Make it an experience that they’ll tell friends about.
Come by and try our products. We’ll also have a representative at the show. If you’d like to set up a meeting contact us at info@nancis.com or 1-800-788-0808.
Branding is powerful! Every consumer-facing company fights to gain brand recognition and consumer mind-share. As a frozen yogurt store owner, you want people to think of your brand first when asked looking for frozen yogurt. Here is a fun article and map that shows the most famous brands for each of the 50 U.S. states.
The team at Nanci’s Frozen Yogurt helped ship hundreds of blankets, beanies, and scarves to families affected by Hurricane Sandy in New York.
In the Spirit of MLK Day – the National Day of Service – we’d like to let you know about a fun project the team at Nanci’s was able to help with.
For the last several months, Steve and Liz Porter have been making and collecting quilts, beanies, and scarves for victims of Hurricane Sandy in Broad Channel, NY.
Broad Channel is a small neighborhood in the borough of Queens and is often referred to as the “Venice” of New York. Because the neighborhood is surrounded by water, it sustained heavy damage from Hurricane Sandy. Even weeks after the terrible storm, the residents are still trying to put their lives back together.
Through incredible grassroots efforts, the Porters have had people all over the nation pitch in to make 1000 blankets and 680 beanies and scarves. A few weeks ago, the Porters had the blankets all ready to go but no way to get them from Mesa, AZ to New York. The team at Nanci’s was happy to donate the shipping! We palletized the boxes and sent them on their way to the families in Broad Channel.
We had several customers with frozen yogurt shops and restaurants who were affected by Hurricane Sandy. Throughout the storm and after, our thoughts and prayers continue to be with them as they rebuild their lives.
FroCup.com