The Pros and Cons of Hawaiian Shaved Ice Syrup

Realhawaiian Ice

Flavor is obviously a factor when choosing the Hawaiian shaved ice syrup to stock, but you also need to consider what kind of syrup to serve at your business. Let’s take a look at the pros and cons of ready-to-use, concentrate, sugar-free, and homemade syrup.

Ready-to-Use Hawaiian Shaved Ice Syrup

• Pros
  Ready-to-use syrup is a great choice for new business owners because it can be used straight out of the bottle without any additional preparation. Ready-to-use syrup is also perfect for businesses with high traffic. Because product turnover happens so quickly, the syrup is used well within its expiration date.
• Cons
  Unfortunately, ready-to-use Hawaiian shaved ice syrup has a shorter shelf life than concentrate alternatives. As a result, business owners need to be careful about purchasing too much stock in advance and purchasing flavors that don’t end up selling. In contrast, popular flavors may sell TOO fast and require you to frequently perform inventory checks.

Concentrate Hawaiian Shaved Ice Syrup

• Pros
  Concentrate Hawaiian shaved ice syrup lasts much longer than ready-to-use, making it a shelf stable alternative. This makes it a good choice for businesses with reduced traffic or businesses that don’t exclusively sell shaved ice. Because the syrup keeps, owners can invest in a variety of flavors, regardless of how well they sell. Concentrate syrup also allows owners to safely buy in bulk.
• Cons
  Concentrate syrup requires more prep than ready-to-use syrup, meaning you need to take time to prepare the syrup at the beginning of the business day and whenever you run out of a specific flavor. Additionally, for peak freshness, concentrate Hawaiian shaved ice syrup needs preservatives if it is going to be on the shelf for extended periods of time as may be the case with seasonal businesses.

Sugar-Free Hawaiian Shaved Ice Syrup

• Pros
  Adding sugar-free Hawaiian shaved ice syrup to your menu can be an excellent way to draw in customers who can’t indulge in sugary desserts. Because there are very few sugar-free options that taste good, the majority of customers looking for a sugar-free dessert will gravitate towards Hawaiian shaved ice over ice cream.
• Cons
  Sugar-free Hawaiian shaved ice syrup has less flavor varieties than other syrups. Demand is lower, so sugar-free options are limited to a handful of popular flavors. As a result, it is very difficult to stock a shaved ice business only using sugar-free syrup. A better option is to see which standard flavors are best sellers and invest in a few sugar-free versions to cater to your customer base.

Homemade Hawaiian Shaved Ice Syrup

• Pros
  Using homemade syrup can be a great way to make your business stand apart and reduce supply costs. Likewise, because you are your own supplier you can always make more syrup as needed. Homemade syrup can also be made out of specific drink products, allowing you to serve syrup based on name brand sodas or juices.
• Cons
  While homemade Hawaiian shaved ice syrup does give your business a nice touch, it requires much more preparation than ready-to-use or concentrate. Homemade syrup is also prone to inconsistency, as it is made in small amounts that vary from batch to batch. Finally, there’s no real way to preserve homemade syrup, so if sales for that flavor dip you may be left with unusable syrup.

Every shaved ice business is different, and at the end of the day, you may decide to invest in a combination of all four syrups. Ready-to-use is great for crowd favorites, while concentrate is a better fit for more niche flavors. Similarly, you may add some sugar-free options to the menu, or offer limited time runs of homemade syrup.

Whatever you decide, Real Hawaiian Ice has the perfect Hawaiian shaved ice syrup for you.