Taylor iced beverage machine increases footfall and generates big profits
If you’re in Wigston and fancy a nice restaurant, or a decent coffee, or maybe a takeaway, then you might want to head for the petrol station. Shortly after it opened, The Stage in Wigston was crowned 2020 Forecourt Trader of the Year. Less a petrol station, more a destination with its barista coffee bar, healthy all-day food offer and convenience store, The Stage has made itself centre-stage. It’s part of the Hockenhull Garages group (HGS), which is led by father and son team, Peter and Joe Hockenhull. They continue to innovate and recently they decided to introduce blended milkshakes into the ‘Pete’s Treats’ takeaway on the site.
Joe, who is managing director of HGS, says, “We wanted to grow the food and drinks offer – following the initial conversation with the guys at Taylor, the product and the idea sold itself.”
The Hockenhulls chose a Taylor 430, which is a gravity fed frozen beverage machine. A counter-top model, measuring just 700mm high by 408mm wide and 701mm deep, it’s easy to install as it has a compact body and runs from a 13 amp supply. Despite its size, it can produce up to a hundred 12oz portions per hour. That makes it great for bars, restaurants and cafés that want to serve ‘genuine’ American-style thick shakes. It’s also perfect for granitas and fruit slushes, and even frozen cocktails and mocktails. The design and operation of the machine make it easy to create recipes and signature shakes.
At The Stage, it’s used to produce a vanilla shake base which they then blend with a choice of chocolate bars or candy to produce their own shakes menu. But it’s not just about attracting new customers. Joe says, “I could see the opportunities for revenue growth because of the margins which can be achieved with the shake product.”
The profitability on shakes is certainly high. For example, the ingredients cost of a 20oz blended shake is around £1. Assuming a selling price of £4.49, total profit is £2.74, once VAT (£0.75) is taken out. If The Stage serves 17 shakes per day, the annual profit is just over £17,000.
The Taylor 430 has made a big difference at The Stage. “We are offering a unique product which has increased the footfall,” says Joe. “The food category within the business has grown exponentially. Shake sales have made more profit than any other product in the category.”
A machine like this is a significant investment but, as Joe says, “Sales from a few months’ trading have quickly paid for it.”