Why Iced Teas and Coolers Belong on Your Summer Menu

Summer is the season for keeping cool and trying new and exciting flavours, so anything that’s served over ice is an automatic winner.

In recent years we’ve seen iced tea growing in popularity, particularly among a Gen Z audience who have sparked a huge demand for sparkling iced teas. We always recommend our Iced Teas and Coolers range for the summer months so here’s 5 reasons why you need them on your menu.

Easy to make, quick to serve

Our iced teas, lemonades and coolers range has been designed to make it as simple as possible to make a drink. Think of these syrups as a sophisticated alternative to squash, bursting with flavour and really easy to enjoy. Here’s our super simple recipe.

Ingredients:

• 4 pumps (30ml) any Simply Iced Tea, Lemonade or Cooler Syrup
• 270ml Lemonade
• Ice

Instructions:

1. Add your syrup of choice to a glass full of ice.
2. Top with lemonade and stir.

We told you it was easy! The minimal time it takes to make these will create happy customers who are delighted to be served so quickly. This means next time they fancy a nice drink while out, they’ll think of you and come back for more.

Try something new

Customers mostly stick to what they know, but little changes here and there will help peak their interest. Coming out of the pandemic sparked a trend of little indulgences – going for those small treats because you deserve it. A study found that more than 1 in 4 consumers were motivated by indulgence, so offering fun twists to drinks is in everyone’s interests.

Excellent profit boosters

Our iced tea, lemonade and cooler syrups are also great for boosting profit margins. Each 1 litre bottle has roughly 33 servings, so using 30ml of syrup per drink will be one of the most cost effective drinks on your menu to make!

If you’re unsure how to price these drinks, simply check out the competition. Larger chains such as Costa and Starbucks add a couple of extras that help in marking them up, so we have some ideas coming up on what you can do to achieve this.

Appearances matter

We’ve all heard “don’t judge a book by its cover” but in the age of social media, appearances matter more than ever. 34% of US consumers have ordered a custom drink because they saw it on social media, while 26% said their order was influenced by social media preferring looks over taste. Your drinks need to look good in photos on Instagram and videos on TikTok! Here’s how you can make your drinks stand out on social media.

• All of these drinks are a great starting point because of the beautiful colours these syrups come in. Be sure to complement them with a matching coloured straw for a certified colour coordinating moment.
• Fresh fruit is the perfect way to jazz up your drink. Add a few slices of lemon to any iced tea, and even some slices of cucumber in our coolers will bring that extra pop of colour.
• For a premium experience, something fancier like fresh strawberries or mango will make the drink look prettier and help justify a higher price in customers’ minds.

Low calorie choices

Another trend coming from the pandemic is increased awareness of health and what consumers can do to stay healthy. Add this to the new mandate of calories on menus for large companies and you can see why many are choosing lower calorie options. This doesn’t always mean they want the healthiest thing on offer, so don’t be scared to keep offering sugary delicacies.

Every syrup in our iced teas and coolers range clocks in at under 100 calories per serving, so make sure to advertise this point.

• All our iced teas are around 90 calories per serving, but our sugar free peach iced tea is just 26 calories a glass!
• Our brand new lemonades all have 77 calories per serving, and our dragon fruit and mango cooler (41 calories) and strawberry, basil and cucumber cooler (46 calories) are great options too.