S&N Retail's 'Role of the Ice'
Perfect Serve Highlights Changing Role Of Ice In Pubs
Scottish & Newcastle Retail's Perfect Serve is an initiative to improve drinks service and raise the public's expectations about drinks practices. It encompasses the whole concept of serving drinks, from preparation and choice of spirits, mixers and ice, through to final presentation. And, according to Area Manager Yvonne Sinclair, it's working very well....
Yvonne's patch is Newcastle upon Tyne. Se's been in the pub business for 28 years, woman and girl, all that time with S&N Retail, and has worked in and managed several of the pubs she now controls. She says that Perfect Serve has been a huge success. "Customers love it, staff love it and the company loves it: wet sales have risen a lot since we introduced it."
Crucial to the Perfect Serve is the right ice which, in S&N Retail's case, is provided by Scotsman 'Supercube' ice machines. "The cubes are great, so much better than the ones we used before. Where the old ones would melt quickly, these last the whole drink. And they look great, too, clear, solid and chunky."
The Scotsman machines are supplied by Hubbard Ice Systems. The distinctive thimble-shaped 'Supercubes' are made by spraying water up into refrigerated cups. This means that impurities in the water drop out, making the cube itself pure, crystal clear and longer lasting.
"Hubbard's after-sales service has been excellent, too. If there's ever a problem they respond immediately and it's obvious that the team at Hubbard really care about customer satisfaction," says Yvonne.
The success of Perfect Serve has highlighted the stark contrast in the way ice is used now, compared to when Yvonne started out in the pub trade. "Back then the ice machines were really small and it was more or less accepted that busy pubs would run out of ice at around 9.00pm on a Friday and Saturday. Customers accepted it, too! These days running out of ice is totally unacceptable. Ice is a vital part of customers' enjoyment of their drinks."
Scottish & Newcastle Retail use Scotsman ACM ice machines. These are self-contained units, with integral ice storage bins. They have production capacities ranging from 24kg to 140kg of 'supercube' ice per day. Both air and water-cooled version are available, the latter being suitable for sites where ventilation is limited. Hubbard Ice Systems also offers modular Scotsman 'Supercube' achines, which require separate ice storage bins, with maximum daily production capacities of up to 630kg. All models are made of food grade stainless steel and are WRC approved.
A new version of the ACM design, the award-winning Easy Fit range, features an integral pump that allows it to be fitted without legs and up to 10 metres from drainage.
