Exploring Your Options for a Frozen Beverage Machine for Sale

Freezing Cylinders

This component is the hardware that freezes water and creates the ice crystals that provide the delightful texture. Each cylinder holds one flavor. Freezing and mixing of products take place in the cylinders, and the dispensing spigots release products from each cylinder.

Mixing Blades

Mixing blades turn on the inside of a freezing cylinder to scrape away the ice that forms during the freezing process. They also blend the ice and flavoring agents into the ideal consistency. 

Compressor Unit

The compressor, the primary refrigeration agent, functions like those in a commercial refrigerator or air conditioner. Compressors drive the powerful cooling cycle that creates the temperatures necessary to freeze water inside the unit.

Seals and Gaskets

Every unit has a series of airtight seals and gaskets that create the "closed loop" system that makes FBD units so easy to use and maintain. Although they’re made from high-quality materials to withstand long periods of wear, an annual inspection ensures your seals remain reliable.

Drip Trays

Drip trays sit beneath the dispensers of each cylinder on the machine to catch and collect any spillage that results while filling cups. The small amount of product that remains at the end of a dispenser after a pour will melt and drip out of the dispenser. Trays keep your counters clean.

Cup and Straw Dispensers

Add accessories such as cup and straw dispensers to save counter space and offer convenience to customers. Offer cups for self-service within easy reach. Make straws available next to the machine to make it clear that serving oneself and enjoying the beverage will be quick and easy. 

Base Carts

These units provide a sturdy, movable base for mounting FBD units rather than placing them directly onto counters or into walls. Internal storage space offers room for the bag-in-box syrup packs supplying the machine. Ideal for simplifying cleaning, installation, and maintenance.

BIB Racks

You may feed frozen drink units from BIBs in a back room when not using a base cart. BIB racks offer storage space for each flavor and an accessible way to route tubing to the machine – especially useful when operating multiple units or many flavors.

Installation Kits

We provide installation kits that contain everything necessary for the standard installation of an FBD machine. This kit includes all the essential fittings, tubing, and carbon dioxide regulators you'll require to get set up. These kits offer a simple way to quickly get your machine up and running.

Buck and Boost Transformers

Proper operation of a frozen drink machine requires a constant steady voltage. In areas where voltage irregularities persist, buck and boost transformers stabilize voltage and frequency to appropriate levels for correct operation. These items also protect your unit from dangerous power surges.

The presence of frozen drinks on a menu where consumers might not normally expect to find them can create a sense of fun and novelty. The traditional array of bright colors and sweet flavors for casual restaurants can prove very appealing, especially to families and teenagers.

Even more upscale restaurants can capitalize on the frozen drink trend by offering an experience that rises to the same level as their other offerings. For example, choosing a machine that creates nitrogen-infused drinks could work perfectly for a higher-end establishment. Nitro infusions create an unmistakably smooth mouthfeel while maximizing flavor and have the added benefit of being an on-trend novelty.

Bars and nightclubs looking to boost customer enjoyment should carefully consider frozen drinks, too, especially once you realize you can choose units built to dispense alcoholic cocktails. In a packed club, it's easy to imagine finding eager buyers for a drink that doesn't spill so easily and offers a big burst of recognizable mixed drink flavor, such as a frozen margarita.

Consider also the value bars could see from running a Happy Hour promotion focused on such drinks. Since it takes longer to consume a frozen drink than a regular cocktail, offering a deal on alcoholic slushies near the end of the night can motivate buyers to grab something they can enjoy until closing.

For decades, slushies have been a staple treat at the movie theater, a place that historically has almost always had associations with indulgent snacks. That history continues today as frozen drinks still generate sales for theaters.

The experience offers moviegoers something different than the typical soft drink purchase. More flavor for longer combined with the enjoyable texture of frozen drinks makes them well-suited to sipping on throughout the latest blockbuster. A frozen drink can look particularly appealing when people turn out for the hot summer movie season.

For theater owners, tapping into this demand can prove very valuable. Frozen drinks can have a very high ROI because so much of the drink (between 40 and 60%, type-dependent) is simply water. With only 10 to 25% syrup ratios, every BIB syrup makes many drinks, all served and sold at an excellent margin.

There is even the possibility of driving engagement through branded drink events. For example, a 2023 partnership between ICEE and Dreamworks Animation saw the creation of specially-themed "Trolls" flavors to promote the upcoming release of a new film in the franchise. Such branding opportunities can capture consumer interest and drive impulse buys at the concessions counter, creating new revenue opportunities.

Since you control the price of beverages throughout the park, you don’t have to compete with other vendors. Instead, you can offer drinks from reliable machines capable of serving large crowds, creating impressive opportunities for a significant ROI.

With edgy, psychedelic branding, a novel name, and familiar, well-loved flavors, the iconic frozen drink became a pop culture staple that has persisted for decades. Even today, the annual celebration of "Free Slurpee Day" on July 11th creates high levels of engagement through traditional and social media.

Ever since the Slurpee's invention, frozen drinks have been a fixtures at gas stations and convenience stores. Even today, they're still a highly profitable offering for C-store owners. Many buyers enter these stores looking for something else, such as a bag of chips or another snack to take on the road. Travelers on road trips browse convenience stores while stretching their legs, looking for something to take with them. An eye-catching frozen drink unit can draw a shopper's attention and trigger an impulse buy.

The low prices of such drinks make an impulse purchase more likely. Customers can quickly pour a frozen drink in their favorite flavor and only add a few dollars to their purchase. This opportunity creates better customer satisfaction and boosts your revenue-generating capabilities. Installing an FBD unit is an easy win for convenience store operators.

Whether it's a frozen Coke from McDonald's or a Baja Blast Freeze from Taco Bell, many visible outlets see excellent value in including these beverages in their menus. The benefits are the same everywhere: the potential for a high ROI, streamlined and simple maintenance with suitable units, and appeal to the demographics most likely to visit QSRs.

At a time when many quick-service restaurants change their menus frequently, frozen drinks can add to that versatility. Many chains offer limited-time products or seasonal menus. A key advantage to choosing the right frozen drink machine for sale is the amount of variety it can bring to your menu. Within each drink category, such as frozen carbonated beverages, there are many available drink flavors. If you're in a market where a particular flavor doesn't appeal to consumers as much as elsewhere, you aren't stuck with that choice. Instead, you can swap to a flavor your customers respond to more readily.

As QSR menus change, so too should beverage offerings. What's popular today may not be as popular next year. When you can respond to shifting consumer demands and offer a refreshing frozen drink alongside the favorite food items on your menu, you'll capture sales you might otherwise miss.

Routine cleaning helps protect flavors and guards against the development of potential harm, such as mold, mildew, and other food safety concerns. Periodic servicing helps to identify and address wear before it becomes problematic. Keeping your machines clean and in good working order ensures you can enjoy the most uptime possible from your machine.

Many machines, especially those producing frozen uncarbonated beverages, use an "open bowl" system. These systems are ultimately open to the outside world and place a high demand on staff time for cleaning. Such machines require frequent disassembly, cleaning, and reassembly. However, FBD machines are different, we cut back on maintenance needs with an entirely closed system.

The Closed-loop and Bag in Box system for delivering syrups and flavor shots meansour machines—from the 37X series to the 77X series and everything in between—don't require disassembly to clean. A wipe-down of the exterior surfaces and rising out the machine's drip tray is all that's necessary on a daily basis. We recommend cleaning your units' air filters every few months.

As for deep cleaning and maintenance, you only need to schedule a visit from a certified technician once or twice a year. Such maintenance involves preventative work and a complete sanitizing process for the interior workings. After cleaning, technicians re-seal the machine, and you're ready to continue serving smiles and creating revenue for another year.

Marketing your frozen drinks is necessary, especially after you add new machines. Executing a successful frozen beverage program requires understanding your audience and investing in efforts that will grab buyer attention. A well-branded unit that reflects your company colors, logo, or other materials draws the eye and creates curiosity, especially for self-serve drink stations.

There are many other potential marketing opportunities to explore beyond branding. Some additional options include:

With so many ways to market frozen drinks, you can mix and match strategies to find the recipe for success.

In fact, now is the time to embrace innovation in this space and start searching for new ways to delight your customers. With different drink types and an ever-increasing variety of flavorings, there's something to offer to everyone. Offering them can improve your bottom line, boost customer satisfaction, and even help set you apart from the competition.

Selecting a frozen beverage machine for sale is a choice that requires care and planning. Even within the same industry space, different businesses may need different units based on space, demand, capacity, or flavor variety requirements. Take your first steps with help from the experts at FBD Frozen today. Chat with us at your convenience and tell us a bit about your business. Together, we can work towards identifying the investment most likely to meet your needs and produce the results you want to see.