OMAHA, Neb. – (April 2023) – Scooter’s Coffee, LLC, the coffee franchise known for its fast, friendly service, wants to speed things up. In March, they opened their Innovation Lab to help them design the fastest way to prepare their signature drinks and serve them to their customers with a smile. “Speed is our competitive advantage and builds loyalty with our customers,” said Nathan Lester, Senior Director of Drive-Thru Innovation for Scooter’s Coffee.
Scooter’s Coffee is the first coffee company of its size with this capability. Their Innovation Lab is flexible and expandable allowing them to quickly set up, simulate, and identify optimal future equipment, process, and platform designs. With the addition of cloud-based cameras the lab can be observed remotely for cross-functional feedback and learnings. Additionally, the use of cameras allows for optimization of barista ergonomics and time in motion analyses.
“We developed a program that generates orders, allows us to set load balancing parameters by station, adjust customer arrival rates and order times. The ultimate goal being to control variability and repeatability of our simulations.” Said Lester. “After we run the test, we analyze the results, looking for ways to make the process more efficient. Then we make that adjustment and repeat.”
This Innovation Lab is additive to all the other innovative work here at Scooter’s Coffee helping our franchisees drive unit level profitability within our core competency of ‘Delivering high quality, high margin drinks through a drive-thru lane fast and friendly’.
Priorities for the lab include testing the desirability, viability, and feasibility of new equipment and optimizing processes before deploying it to their stores.
Lester refers to the lab as an investment in understanding how Scooter’s Coffee can improve speed but says it’s only the first step in the process. “If an idea shows promise in the lab, and we think it can be profitable for our franchisees, we will test it further in the field. We always want to make sure it holds up under real-world conditions, because while speed is important, we will never sacrifice the quality of our product or the franchisee’s profitability simply to make it faster.”
Scooter’s Coffee, based in Omaha, Nebraska, specializes in artisan espresso drinks, fruit smoothies, baked-from-scratch pastries and is featuring its signature drink, the Caramelicious.Ò The company also recently added depth to its profile with a line of organic hot and iced teas, single-origin coffee, and Cold Brew & Cream.
According to the latest market trends compiled by the National Coffee Association, 60% of Americans drank coffee in the past day. That’s more than reported drinking tea, juice, soda, or even tap water! And 28% of people reported buying coffee at a coffee shop or restaurant in the past day — a number that’s almost back to pre-pandemic levels. The drive-thru coffee model, already popular in our fast-paced society, has boomed during the pandemic, giving customers a way to get a delicious beverage while staying socially distant. Scooter’s Coffee kiosks, with the Brand Promise of “Amazing People, Amazing Drinks… Amazingly Fast! ®” is helping Americans meet that demand.
About Scooter’s Coffee
With 600 stores operating across 28 states and commitments to open more stores, Scooter’s Coffee is in the midst of a strategic growth phase across the nation. The U.S. coffee market is an estimated $48 billion industry, and with a 664-foot proven kiosk model, Scooter’s Coffee is striving to become the No. 1 drive-thru coffee franchise in the nation.
Scooter’s Coffee roasts only the finest coffee beans in the world at its headquarters in Omaha, Nebraska. In more than two decades of business, Scooter’s Coffee’s success is simple: stay committed to the original business principles and company core values. The Scooter’s Coffee Brand Promise, often recited to franchisees, customers and employees is: “Amazing People, Amazing Drinks… Amazingly Fast! ®” It represents the company’s business origins from 1998 and reflects a steady commitment to providing an unforgettable experience to loyal and new customers.
For more information, visit scooterscoffee.com, Scooter’s Coffee Facebook page, ownascooters.com.
