Founded in 1998 by Don and Linda Eckles in Bellevue, Nebraska, Scooter’s Coffee roasts only the finest coffee beans in the world at its headquarters in Omaha, Nebraska. The U.S. coffee market is an estimated $48 billion a year recession-resistant industry, and Scooter’s is striving to become the #1 drive-thru coffee franchise in the nation. With its plan to open over 350 new units in 2021 and 2022, the company needed to invest in increased coffee roasting capacity without compromising on their high level of quality. They decided there were three critical must-haves for any solution they chose:
The new roaster had to be user-friendly, while being capable of handling the multiple roast profiles that Scooter’s offers, it had to be maintenance-friendly with minimum downtimes and easy availability of spare parts and access to support and service, and – most importantly – the new roasting system had to be able to scale up consistently and predictably in order to keep up with the company’s long-term growth plans. With these requirements in mind, they turned to BURNS, the US subsidiary of PROBAT.
The BURNS solution
The recently redesigned BURNS 23R drum roaster took the proven concept of combining high capacity, versatility, and ease of operation and maintenance, and upgraded it to meet modern manufacturing and automation standards for coffee roasters. With its straightforward and robust modular design and high-volume production approach geared towards growing businesses, the 23R turned out to be just the right solution for Scooter’s.
The BURNS software and control systems, with better operator interface controls, better integration to plant systems and more reliable assemblies, ensure the highest level of performance, enabling Scooter's to maintain the quality of the coffee and enhance consistency. Scooter’s line of signature roasts can be easily replicated over and over while maximizing capacity and growing their business. The unique perforated drum design of the 23R offers an even, precise roast on batches as small as 200 lbs., while still retaining the capacity to scale up to 2,500 lbs. an hour when the need arises. Nick Jarecke, VP SCM, Scooter’s Coffee is happy about the decision to purchase the 23R as it truly helps reach the corporate goal of expanding its operations while at the same time also increasing quality and consistency: “At Scooter’s Coffee, we take quality very seriously. We have more of a production mindset, produce higher volumes of coffee at higher quality and more predictably than ever before. The BURNS 23R enhanced our coffee quality and increased capacity.”