Hello All, I am glad I found this website. It looks like alot of good info. We are becoming the 1st drive thru espresso stand in town, but we already know there is another one on are tails. There is only 1 walk in place, and there is one coming on their tails.
We thought we had decided on a smoothie base, that we could add fruit etc... We are deciding against that and need help and opinions on other products pros/cons Dr. Smoothie, Jet Tea, what else is there???
Also what type of Hot Chocolate do you do??
Any baked goods you would definatly recommend having, and any you wouldnt mess with???
We asked a couple of local bakeries if they want to do our baking and their label could be on the product, which they seem to be struggling to stay a float, they were not intrested.
So we are having to get it from the local grocery store, unless other recomendations.
We want to do things right, Any helpful info of mistakes we can avoid, Would be greatly appreciated. Thank you, Kimberly
New drive thru
When we started we used Dr. Smoothie. It is real good and all you add is a little water and ice. We later added the Jet Tea Smoothies because of the benefits of Green Tea. You can't taste the tea only the fruit and they are really good too. You can mix flavors to come up with some real special ones. But our best sellers are the ones we came up with on our own. We use frozen fruit, fruit juice, some have a squirt of flavoring and sherbet. They are really good and people love them. They are thicker than the Dr. Smoothie and the Jet Tea Smoothies because of the sherbet. Just experiment. Like for a 16 oz one we use 3/4 cup juice, fruit (like 4 strawberries, or half banana, or 1/3 cup blueberries or pineapple), 2 scoops of sherbet and about 1 cup ice, if you add flavoring we only do about 3 pumps. If you want more specifics just let me know.
For hot chocolate we just use our Ghiardelli sauce and steamed milk. No complaints on that one.
We get our baked goods from our local bakeries. There are several in town. Sorry no help there. Does anyone in your town cater for special occasions? Maybe they would be willing to help.
If you have a Sysco they have some really good scones.
Good luck with your venture. We had another coffee shop open 2 months after we opened. It was really scary, they were only 1 block away. But we just kept serving our great coffees and smoothies and after 2 years they closed. I believe that our good coffee and our very friendly customer service is what kept us going.
Congrats!
Hi Kimberly,
I have a smoothie book called super smoothies, 50 recipes for health and energy. I picked it up at Barnes and Noble. The author is Mary corpening Barber and Sara Copening Whiteford. I don't use smoothie mixes, but use fruits, juices, ice cream, and sherbets. They are signature for me. I also make my own hot chocolate mix and it makes a whole bunch for practically nothing. I still have a problem with baked goods. Can't seem to find a good fit. If you find any good ideas on that let me know. Good luck with your new drive thru.
Javagirl