Ice Cream Shops

Common equipment includes ice cream machines, dipping cabinets, freezers, refrigerators, blenders or mixers, topping stations, sinks, storage, and serving supplies. The exact setup depends on whether you serve hard scoop ice cream, soft serve, shakes, sundaes, frozen desserts, or a combination of products.

Soft serve machines continuously freeze and dispense a softer, ready-to-serve product directly into a cup or cone. Batch freezers freeze individual batches of ice cream, gelato, sorbet, or similar desserts that are typically transferred to another container for serving, storage, or additional hardening.

Typical supplies include scoops, spades, portioners, topping containers, food pans, cups, cones, spoons, napkins, syrup dispensers, storage containers, and cleaning supplies. Shops offering shakes or specialty drinks may also need blenders, drink cups, and beverage accessories.

Consider your menu, expected daily volume, available floor and counter space, electrical requirements, storage needs, and how quickly products need to be served during peak periods. Also consider cleaning requirements, equipment capacity, and whether additional refrigeration or frozen storage will be needed.

Ice cream shops may use dipping cabinets, display freezers, reach-in freezers, or storage freezers depending on how products are served and stored.

Dipping cabinets keep tubs accessible for scooping, while reach-in and storage freezers provide additional back-of-house capacity. Consider available space, product volume, temperature range, and whether customers need to see the product when choosing a freezer.