Buying our tasty ice cream ranges means bringing your customers some amazing tastes and flavours. However, if you fail to store it properly you may end up ruining the end result, with ice cream that’s either frozen too hard, melted to liquid or just tastes a little…wrong.
To make sure you’re getting the best out of your purchases and passing that on to your customers, we’ve put together some guidance on storing ice cream and even how to maximise the storage space to grab customer attention.
Maintain your freezers
Your freezers are a big source of concern to most big-name ice cream brands, since they’re hard to control and can vary greatly in temperature and stability. Ice cream should be stored between -20 and -17C. Some freezers are too cold, some too warm and others are too busy – with shoppers opening them all the time and throwing the temperature range out of whack.
As a retailer, you need to not only check on your freezers regularly to ensure they’re staying at a consistent temperature, but you should also try and place them somewhere you can see them. If customers are opening the doors regularly or leaving them open once they’ve browsed, you need to rotate the ice creams inside so they don’t thaw or freeze too much.
Pick your placement
Whether manufacturers like it or not, all freezers tend to have different temperature zones even if they’re supposed to be the best quality equipment on the market. If you’ve bought brand new freezers, don’t assume they’ll just operate at the same temperature you set them too all the time. Instead, try out different spots for your products to see which areas are colder and which are warmer. (Usually the closer to the door, the warmer the freezer). Keep your ice cream and frozen goods further back – but still visible enough to entice customers to buy.
Use a dedicated display freezer for fast-movers
The fact that the door area of a freezer gets warmer poses a problem for retailers. If you want to display your best ice cream ranges to customers, how can you prevent temperatures from rising? Fortunately, you can actually afford to – fast-moving ranges can be stored in display freezers where temperatures can be slightly warmer. Place most of the stock in your dedicated storage freezer and top up the display one whenever a product is sold. If some lines aren’t selling as quickly, remove some from the display and place them in the backup freezer with a more consistent cold temperature.
Keep away from smelly produce
Whilst most ice cream is fully sealed before purchase, there’s still a risk in storing your ice cream range near smelly food. Fish and other strong smells can be absorbed by dairy products and the last thing you want is a customer returning ice cream because it stinks.
By following these tips, you’ll be able to maximise your customer’s satisfaction when they buy ice cream from your shop, minimise waste and keep your products in tip-top condition. As the summer sun picks up, make sure you’re on top of your freezer situation to keep your ice cream in great shape. Shop our whole ice cream range here.
