You know the old saying, “only the best will do”? For budget-conscious restaurant owners, that’s not always true. If you haven’t blended a dozen margaritas back to back since the weekend of the Parrothead convention, then you may not need to invest in the best commercial blender on the market.
Here at Hamilton Beach Commercial, our high-performance blenders are the stars of our product line. These machines are built for maximum efficiency, power and consistency. They can create a flawless drink profile in seconds, and are built to last for many years in a high-volume commercial kitchen.
But if frozen drinks and smoothies aren’t a core menu item, then you may be able to get away with a more affordable, less powerful bar blender. They’re workhorses too! Here are five things to consider when you’re making a blender buying decision.
Question 1: Are you purchasing blenders for a single location or a multi-unit chain?
Independent business owners can worry a little less about consistency. A blended iced coffee may taste a certain way on Tuesday and a little different on Wednesday, depending on who’s working, and no one will complain. A simple toggle-control bar blender should get the job done.
Multi-unit operations, on the other hand, must serve consistent products day in and day out at every location. A programmable high-performance blender makes it easy to blend the right way every time. Customized blend profiles mean optimized performance, improved texture and reduced cycle times with the press of a button. Or consider the patented Auto Blend sensor technology, available on the Summit® blender, which adjusts for differences in ingredients and users to serve consistently excellent drinks.
Question 2: What kinds of smoothies do you serve?
Smoothies continue to be a significant sales driver for limited-service restaurants. They’re one of the top-growing beverage items in the fast-casual segment, according to the 2019 State of the Industry report from the National Restaurant Association. Do you need a high-performance blender for smoothies? That depends on how you make them. Simple juice/yogurt/pre-made mix blends are easy work for a smaller bar blender. Green smoothies, or those with whole fresh fruit and other fibrous ingredients, require a high-performance blender with a strong motor to drive the blade.
Question 3: How many blended drinks do you serve per day/hour?
An often-overlooked asset of high-performance blenders is their ability to mute blending noise. Features like QuietBlend™ technology and the Quiet Shield™ enclosure muffle the sound so that blending doesn’t interrupt customers’ conversation. Any operation blending 10 or more drinks per hour needs a noise-reducing blender. However, if you’re blending just a few times per day, then noise isn’t as important.
The drinks-per-day equation also matters for profitability. If you serve 5 blended drinks per day, your cost per blend will be higher with a high-performance blender, and your initial investment will take longer to recoup. If you serve 50 blended drinks per day, then the ROI skyrockets — and it becomes more important to have a durable, dependable blender. A Quantum® 950 has been running continuously in our headquarters since June 2018, blending the equivalent of 2 million-plus drinks and driving the cost per blend toward zero.
Question 4: Are you typically blending drinks back to back, or do you have down time between blends?
High-performance blender motors generate a lot of heat, so they include a powerful cooling fan that allows the blender to run several cycles in a row without stopping. Bar blenders, on the other hand, are designed for quick spurts of blending followed by a break. If you push a bar blender to go, go, go without stopping, if may overheat and shut down. And you’ll wear out the motor and shorten its lifespan.
Question 5: How slammed is your staff?
If you ever have a single employee (or even two) running the bar or restaurant, then you may need to invest in a high-performance blender. That’s because these blenders have features like programs, timers and Auto Blend that allow users to step away and complete other tasks while the cycle is running. They also blend more quickly.
If you’re just not sure what type of blender’s best for your bottom line, remember that there’s always a middle ground. You might opt for a higher-end bar blender, like the durable Tango® blender, or an affordable high-performance blender, like the workhorse Fury™.
See our full line of durable restaurant equipment for quick-service and fast-casual restaurants.