Franke Coffee Systems explains why iced coffee is becoming a strategic opportunity for bakeries…
Cold coffee beverages are becoming a more permanent part of the menu and an increasingly important driver of sales. For bakeries and bakery cafés, the opportunity is clear: iced coffee can help extend beverage sales beyond the traditional morning coffee occasion and create new impulse opportunities throughout the day.
But the opportunity also comes with a challenge. In busy bakery environments, preparation needs to be fast, repeatable and easy to manage alongside baked goods, sandwiches, snacks and other beverages. Customers expect attractive presentation, consistent taste and quick service, while operators need a workflow that does not add unnecessary complexity during peak periods.
The shift is visible across global coffee markets. Starbucks reports that roughly two-thirds of beverages sold in its US company-operated coffeehouses are cold, while cold beverages account for around 60% of its international beverage sales. Across Europe, World Coffee Portal reports that half of industry leaders surveyed believe there is now strong year-round demand for iced beverages.
Younger consumers are helping accelerate this development, with a strong preference for customizable, iced and flavored beverages consumed throughout the day. As demand grows, cold coffee is becoming part of a broader shift toward more variety, personalization and new flavor experiences. For bakeries, this creates an opportunity to expand the beverage menu, increase average basket value and appeal to customers looking for premium drinks alongside fresh bakery products.
The Hidden Challenge Behind Premium Iced Coffee
While adding iced beverages to a bakery menu may seem straightforward, consistently delivering a high-quality iced coffee experience is often more complex than expected.
Common methods include brewing coffee directly over ice, using pre-brewed coffee stored in a refrigerator, or relying on additional cooling tools before serving. Each approach can work, but each also adds variables such as temperature, timing, handling, storage and the amount of ice used. In a bakery setting, where teams may be serving pastries, bread, snacks, sandwiches and drinks at the same time, these variables can quickly influence the final beverage.
“Preparing iced coffee is not only about making coffee cold. The way the beverage is cooled has a direct impact on taste, aroma and balance,” says Wojciech Tysler, Irish Barista Champion and Brand Ambassador at Franke Coffee Systems. “When hot coffee relies mainly on ice for cooling, dilution can change the character of the drink. For operators, the challenge is to deliver an iced coffee that still tastes intentional, consistent and visually appealing, even during peak service.”
Pre-brewed coffee requires planning, storage space and careful handling. Additional cooling tools, such as metal cooling balls, can help bring down the temperature, but they also add manual steps to the workflow. During morning rushes, lunchtime demand or warm-weather peaks, these extra steps can slow down preparation and make it harder for staff to deliver the same result consistently.
For bakeries focused on both product quality and fast service, the challenge is therefore not only dilution. It is also time, workflow and repeatability.
From Add-On Beverage to Daily Operations
As cold coffee becomes a year-round category, it is no longer enough to add iced coffee to the menu as a seasonal extra. The process needs to work in everyday bakery operations, whether the drink is prepared by service staff, ordered at the counter or offered in a self-service area.
This is where the operational pressure becomes clear. A preparation method that works well in a quiet period may be harder to manage when staff are serving queues, replenishing displays and preparing food at the same time. If the result depends too much on individual know-how, manual steps or timing, quality can vary from one beverage to the next.
For bakery operators, iced coffee has to fit into the rhythm of the business. It needs to be easy to prepare, quick to serve and consistent enough to protect the overall customer experience.
Technology as an Enabler
The new approach is to treat iced coffee as its own beverage workflow, not simply as a cold version of the hot coffee menu. This means controlling the brewing and cooling process while reducing the number of manual steps needed to achieve a consistent result.
This is where ActiveChill from Franke Coffee Systems comes into play. Available with the New A Line, the technology cools freshly brewed coffee before dispensing. Combined with iQFlow™ extraction technology, ActiveChill supports consistent in-cup quality while helping to preserve flavor and aroma and reduce dilution compared to traditional iced coffee preparation methods.
“For operators, iced coffee preparation needs to be reliable, repeatable and easy to integrate into daily service,” says Patrice Schaer, Product Manager at Franke Coffee Systems. “With ActiveChill, the idea was to simplify one of the most critical steps in the process: cooling freshly brewed coffee before it reaches the glass. This helps reduce manual intervention and supports a more controlled preparation workflow.”
In practice, this gives bakery operators a simpler way to prepare iced coffee in both served and self-service areas. It helps them offer cold coffee beverages with more consistent quality while reducing the manual steps required in daily service.
