Scooter’s balances flavor innovation, operational efficiency
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Caramelicious is served hot, iced, and blended, and Scooter’s has also launched some LTO extensions over the years, including the fan favorite Sea Salt Caramelicious. Courtesy of Scooter’s Coffee
Scooter’s Coffee offers a mind-blowing number of flavor combinations, all created from 41 syrups and sauces in a footprint that averages 688 square feet and is engineered for speedy service.
“Every single inch matters, and we’re very mindful of any new ingredients that come into the kiosk,” said Angela Dempsey, Scooter’s senior director of menu strategy. “We want to make sure that we choose the ingredient that will be the most impactful and efficient for us.” The brand is proud to be one of the fastest in the industry when it comes to serving customers.
About 80% of Scooter’s 930 locations are drive thrus, she added, and each is equipped with at least two espresso machines and two blenders, plus refrigeration and storage space. The Omaha, Nebraska-based chain also takes pride in roasting its own thoughtfully sourced arabica coffee beans, offering brewed coffee at every store in both medium and dark roast, plus a rotating flavored option. While all that has contributed to Scooter’s earning a 2026 Bevvy Award for “Best Coffee Program,” it’s the signature ‘Licious Lineup that differentiated the brand’s menu innovation this year.
“The original Caramelicious actually was created about 27 years ago, when Scooter’s Coffee was founded,” said Dempsey. “A barista combined espresso, milk, and caramel sauce and came up with the fun name, too. It has since been our No. 1 and only signature drink for 27 years and it’s done incredibly well, accounting for upwards of 15% of our business.”
Caramelicious is served hot, iced, and blended, and Scooter’s has also launched some LTO extensions over the years, including the fan favorite Sea Salt Caramelicious.
“About 18 months ago, we said, ‘Hey, Caramelicious does so well, why not give it a few buddies,’” Dempsey said. “So we didn’t give it just one buddy — we actually gave it six buddies, launching a whole line of signature lattes to add to the core menu. Espresso and coffee drives our business, but we wanted more flavor differentiation so we didn’t isolate customers by just offering caramel.”
The “buddies” evolved into the ‘Licious Lineup, which includes an array of high-appeal flavors like chocolate fudge, cinnamon, honeycomb, strawberry shortcake, and turtle — a mocha and caramel blend. “We were the first to have a fruit-flavored latte and I hadn’t seen a honey version before, so those were real differentiators,” she said. Some of the beverages end with the ‘licious suffix, as in Fudgelicious and Cinnalicious. “Sea Salt Caramelicious was one of our most successful LTOs, and people begged for us to have it year ‘round, so that’s now a part of the permanent ‘Licious Lineup, too,” Dempsey said.
The new signature drinks were added in February and have grown the espresso category by 7%, she reported.
Scooter’s continues to innovate its coffee and espresso drinks, partnering with brands like Chips Ahoy cookies, Little Debbie snack cakes, and Sour Patch candies for flavor inspiration. The goal of these branded partnerships is to widen the demographic and reach a new set of guests, said Dempsey. But every new beverage addition always starts with the data.
“We start with just digging through consumer trends, flavor trends, working with our suppliers to hear what their perspectives are and what they’re seeing in the industry as opportunities,” she said. “We also run all of our concepts through a consumer survey and get purchase intent data.”
Baristas have input as well. Scooter’s has an internal menu item suggestion tracker that has over 1,000 submissions. “The baristas are in the stores every day, talking to their guests, and they can at any time scan a QR code and say, ‘Hey, we really need this kind of latte,’” Dempsey explained. “And we actually give them credit, promoting in the stores that this latte was inspired by this person.”
