What you can do about the staff shortage at the ice cream shop (update)

Everyone is talking about the staff shortage. "I don't understand it - where have all the people gone?". You hear this or a similar sentence almost every day.

There is a shortage of qualified personnel across all industries. The catering industry in general and ice cream parlors in particular are finding it very difficult to find sufficient staff at all - whether in production as ice cream makers, as permanent waiters or as temporary help. Not to mention well-trained, reliable and loyal employees. And if you do find staff, it is also expensive "thanks" to minimum wage increases and the ubiquitous wage-price spiral.

So we can say with a clear conscience: staff shortages are the number one megatrend on the German ice cream market.

Why this is the case is a hotly debated and controversial question, even among experts. Unfortunately, we can't solve the general staff shortage for you either - we don't have the secret tip on where to get qualified staff. But we can and want to help you deal with the situation.

We want to answer the question: What can the operator of an ice cream parlor or ice cream café do to run his establishment successfully, economically and as stress-free as possible, even with fewer staff? If you are interested in the answers, just read on.

Tip 1: Ice cream kiosk with pure to-go sales

It is, of course, the obvious starting point. Nevertheless, or precisely because of this, we mention it first.

The easiest way to operate with as few staff as possible is to run the ice cream parlor or café as a pure kiosk, i.e., with only street sales or to-go sales.

Pure kiosk operation has further advantages: For one thing, only a relatively small store area is needed and operated - this significantly reduces rental costs, and the necessary investment in store equipment is lower than for a classic ice cream café with seating and a large counter. In addition, the smaller store space often makes a small kiosk in a prime location affordable, where a large café property would be completely out of one's budget. In addition, the reduced VAT rate of 7% permanently applies to purely off-premise sales.

But it's also clear that many existing and future ice cream parlor operators are currently coming up with this idea - which in turn means that competition for attractive, small stores is increasing more and more, while larger properties are often available at comparatively low prices. And if you're already the proud owner of a classic ice cream parlor, of course, this tip won't help.

Tip 2: Switch to self-service

What can also be implemented in the classic ice cream parlor is to switch to self-service instead of the usual table service. In concrete terms, this means that the waiter no longer takes the order at the table, but the customers order themselves directly at the counter and also pick up their order there themselves. Either they wait directly at the counter, or a so-called pager is used - a small, portable device that informs the guest by means of visual and/or acoustic signals when he can pick up his order.

Either an employee clears the tables, or the customer places his trays directly in a clearing station himself when he is finished.

Or you can go one step further and use service robots for delivery and clearing - see our next tip.

Yes, it's true: Not all customers are enthusiastic about self-service gastronomy - but they are getting more and more used to it, if only because they have no other choice.

From a purely economic point of view, the restaurateur can often easily cope with a few percent loss in sales due to self-service, because the personnel costs that are eliminated usually more than compensate for this.

In existing pubs, it is often necessary to redesign or even rebuild the counter to ensure smooth self-service operation. Our interior design experts will be happy to provide you with advice and assistance.

Tip 3: Use of service robots

You've probably seen a service robot whizzing around somewhere - and you've probably wondered whether it could be an issue for you, too . The answer is quite clear: It depends on your business.

Today, service robots can perform a wide range of simple service tasks: They can, for example, deliver food, drinks or ice cream cups or clear away dirty dishes. They also offer a number of advantages over "human" staff: they don't need vacations and are never sick, they work weekends and sometimes more than 8 hours a day, they are significantly cheaper per hour, and they don't demand salary increases. Skillfully planned, they also make human staff happier, because they take away unpleasant (leg) work and ensure that each employee can serve more tables and thus receive more tips.

However, of course, they can not help in all situations : In street v ending, of course, a service robot is of no help. And even in café operations, it must be carefully checked whether the premises are suitable for the use of a robot. For example, there must be sufficiently large and free walkways, the store must be level and without steps, and the tables must always be in the same place . In addition, the robots are not (yet) intended for outdoor use.

So in the right situations, service robots can be a great help - but in other situations they are completely useless.

Tip 4: More efficiency through "invisible" planning

Smart facility planning can help you operate more efficiently and drive good sales even with fewer staff .

In the counter area, it helps enormously if walkways are designed efficiently, simply because you have to walk less and complete each individual walk a little more efficiently and quickly - this may sound unspectacular, but it often adds up considerably over the course of the entire day.

Moreover, if a counter is well planned, it can be operated by a single person during periods of less guest traffic, selling both ice cream counter, coffee and cakes, and cold drinks when business is light. Perhaps even the sight lines in the ice cream parlor are cleverly designed so that the ice cream maker can see the ice cream display case directly from his ice cream lab during the first hours of the morning, thus simply serving the occasional guests in the morning while the ice cream is being produced, without the need for additional staff .

At the same time, however, the planning must be designed in such a way that several people can work simultaneously and efficiently during peak times without constantly getting in each other's way. It's not easy, but it can be done. You can read more about this in our blog article on "invisible store planning".

Tip 5: Increase production speed

If you make your own ice cream, there is another simple way to work with fewer people: By increasing and optimizing production capacity and speed with a larger, faster ice cream machine and pasteurizer.

A small calculation example: A Carpigiani ice cream machine manages 5 to 6 production cycles (or "batches") per production hour.

A smaller ice cream machine like the Carpigiani Labotronic 10 45 HE-IH produces 7.5 kg of ice cream per cycle. With air surcharge ("overrun"), this is about 10 L of ice cream or two 5L ice cream bowls. So in 4 hours - or about 5 hours with preparation and final cleaning - you can produce about 20 ice creams of two trays each, for a total of 40 trays.

A large ice cream machine like the Carpigiani Labotronic 25/110 HE-IH with 16 kg capacity produces about 22.4 L of ice cream or 4 trays per cycle - so you can make twice that in the same time, 80 trays.

So you either need one less ice cream maker or, if you produce your own, you have gained 5 extra hours in which you can help out at the counter yourself and in which you don't need any staff at all.

By the way, not only does one become less dependent on personnel, but with the increased wage costs in times of € 12 minimum wage, the investment in a larger ice cream machine and thus in a much faster production also finances itself again very quickly .

Tip 6: Self-pasteurizing soft ice cream machines

But in other places, too, intelligent investments in efficient, time-saving technology can make you less dependent on personnel.

Soft ice cream continues to be a very interesting, attractive and extremely high-margin product that sells brilliantly, especially in the takeaway business at the right locations. You can read more about this in our blog post about soft ice cream here.

There is actually only one disadvantage with soft ice cream: Cleaning a soft ice cream machine is relatively time-consuming at around one hour, requires trained personnel, and must be carried out at the latest every 72 hours with commercially available soft ice cream machines - if they have active container cooling. Many cheap models from the Far East do not have this active cooling, so cleaning must be done daily.

If cleaning is not carried out correctlyby untrained personnel, there is also a risk of germs and bacteria spreading or seals and wear parts wearing out quickly due to incorrect or insufficient lubricants.

There is a technical solution for this as well. Machines with self-pasteurizationsuch as the Carpigiani XVL 3 PSP, the Carpigiani 193 PSP or the Carpigiani Colore 3 need to be disassembled and cleaned much less frequently thanks to the pasteurization function, in which the soft ice cream maker and the entire machine are boiled daily, thus killing all bacteria - here the legal requirement is for a complete cleaning every 42 days, when pasteurization is carried out at least every 72 hours.

This saves a lot of time, and at the same time gives you as the operator the certainty that the machine is always hygienically perfect . This is also a simple technical way to make yourself less dependent on specialist personnel.

Tip 7: Retain existing staff

Our last tip is just as obvious as the first - but we'd still like to make sure to mention it. If you have good staff: Keep it!

And no, it doesn't always have to be about "more money" - treat your employees well and offer them an attractive place to work.

For a long time, the rule in many ice cream parlors was to hire employees only from March to October and "send them out to clock in" during the winter. That's probably the surest way you'll lose good employees to competition, because who wants to do that. Hire your good employees all year round.

An attractive overall concept and a nice, ergonomic and modern interior will also help you to keep your regular staff. Where would you rather work: in an ice cream parlor where you and your guests feel comfortable, where you can work in a relaxed manner, where the walkways fit and where you can work with modern and functioning equipment ? Or in an outdated place where you are constantly crisscrossing because the walkways aren't right, where you spill your cappuccino three times a day because you constantly have to pass your colleagues left and right, and where you regularly have to wash dishes by hand because the dishwasher doesn't work half the year?

You can also motivate your employees with regular training - every employee is happy to take part in a barista course, an ice cream seminar or other training opportunities. And as a side effect, with such training you make your employees not only more satisfied, but also more competent and efficient.

General tips and individual solutions

So you see: Even if we don't have a fundamental solution for the staff shortage in Germany - there are still some ways you can better deal with the staff shortage in your ice cream parlor .

And of course we could not address all possibilities here - there are almost always further optimization approaches in the individual case. So feel free to contact us - we will also find a suitable solution for you !