The first self-serve tabletop bubble-tea machine has launched for convenience stores, with each cup sold generating nearly £5 in profit. Blue Ice Machines began promoting the Bubble Bliss machines last month, showcasing the equipment to retailers at the Booker trade show and online.
The machine offers three flavours of the popular soft drink, weighs 41kg, and is 60cm wide, 43cm deep and 71cm high. It costs £2,620 plus VAT. Alternatively, it is available through leasing for £98 a month, plus VAT. It includes a holder for cups and straws. A separate machine to seal the soft drinks is required, measuring 34cm wide, 25cm deep and 64cm tall. Both require a standard electrical supply to operate.
Available flavours include mango, strawberry, peach, lychee, raspberry, watermelon and passionfruit, with green apple, classic pearl and kiwi flavours to come. Customers can also add sachets of tapioca balls to the drinks.
Pricing
The company recommends retailers charge between £3 to £5 per 500ml cup, with a profit margin between 80-90% if sold at the £5 RRP.
Blue Ice Machines director Mindy Rubin told Better Retailing a chain with 3,000 sites has already signed up to take on Bubble Bliss, which it said offers stores a major footfall opportunity. She said: “Interest has been fantastic, and we’re making progress faster than expected. Bubble Bliss will enable retailers to introduce something innovative and profitable. Our after-care support is unparalleled. Customers should have the back up and support needed for proper care.”
Fast and simple
In specialist bubble-tea stores it usually takes several minutes, on average, to prepare the drinks. However, Rubin said the equipment has “idiot-proofed” the process and reduced the average time to make bubble-tea to 20 seconds.
“We’ve taken a complicated set-up that would usually involve boiling water, adding the flavouring and cooling the drink down, and simplified it,” she explained. “We’ve also reduced the space required and the cost per service. What we’ve brought to the market is innovative and has never been done before. Retailers can choose to make the drinks themselves or offer them as self-serves to customers.”
Originating from Taiwan, the bubble-tea trend has already provided a major sales opportunity for convenience stores. Last year, retailers who stocked pre-made bubble tea from supplier Tempo Tea Bar were generating £1,500 a month in sales. Londis retailer Natalie Lightfoot told Better Retailing she sold out within the first two days of selling the product.
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