With slowly improving weather and the May Day public holiday just around the corner, how do you stay ahead of the competition when the temperature rises and customers return to outdoor dining?

Without exception, every year weather forecasters predict another scorching heatwave and once again 2015 is no exception.  The question is, if the predicted heatwave arrives, what can we expect customers to be ordering and will businesses be ready for it?

Whilst temperatures soar, people are naturally tempted to purchase refreshing iced drinks to keep cool, so whether you use a bar blender to mix up cocktails or smoothies, or simply use an ice machine to add to colas and juices, it's important to have all the equipment you need to cater for that demand.  One such machine gaining in popularity is the slush machine.  A sweet flavoured slush drink is surprisingly easy to make, as well as being refreshing and delicious.

On average, each cup of slush drink costs around 20p to make, depending on the cups, straws and syrup used, so a slush machine can pay for itself rather quickly. In addition, once the winter is over most slush machines can be used to merchandise juices and other drinks, so has the versatility of being able to be used all year round.  Popular slush machines in the Nisbets range are from leading brands such as Polar and Blue Ice.

One trend gaining popularity is slush alcoholic cocktails.  Simply by using a cocktail slush syrup and adding drinks such as vodka, tequila or amaretto, the slushie becomes a premium sophisticated adult drink when garnished correctly.  As you can see in the cherry slushie image above, the appearance of these can be striking and as more people are becoming open to trying new tastes and textures, these types of drinks are becoming increasingly mainstream.


Of course, being in the United Kingdom there's always the chance that perhaps the larger version of the mini cocktail paper umbrellas will be needed, in which case, a piping hot cup of tea from a Buffalo automatic fill water boiler might be more appropriate.  Either way, whether you need something for the rain or shine, the full range of beverage machines from Nisbets includes next day kitchen essentials all year round.

By David Evans