A Q&A with Tobin Ellis, hospitality design and operations specialist, BarMagic of Las Vegas
A Q&A with Murray Meyer, director of product marketing, Manitowoc IceQ: Are customers becoming more aware of the ice in their drinks?
Murray Meyer: Absolutely. Shows like “Bar Rescue” bring professional mixologists to TV who show the proper way a drink is to be made. One ingredient that goes in all cocktails is ice, so those mixologists know the proper ice to use for the right amount of cooling and the right amount of dilution. People become more aware of that when they order a drink now and know whether that drink is made properly.
Q: Ice is more important than ever, it seems. But for operators who have other things to worry about, is there an option?
MM: The new Indigo® NXT (called Next) ice machine from Manitowoc. It’s our next generation modular cuber ice machine. It takes the guesswork out of owning and operating an ice machine. Manitowoc has always been known for innovation, and this machine takes it to the next level.
We’ve made it simple to set up by providing a Start-Up Wizard. When you first turn on the machine, the Wizard will walk you through 12 of the main features. The full-color interface is an easy-to-operate icon-based, touch-screen display, much like you would have on a mobile phone.
Q: And the display also shows alerts, correct?
MM: You’ll get routine maintenance reminders when it’s time to clean and time to change the water or air filter. Information like model number, serial number, install date, manufacture date is all available on the main screen with one push of a button.
Q: Cleaning is important for ice machines. How easy is the Indigo NXT to clean?
The easyTouch® display shows alerts and the operating status of the machine.MM: We pride ourselves on having the easiest machine to clean. With the easyTouch® display, one press of the cleaning button starts the cleaning process. The display will give you step-by-step instructions on what to do.
The front door is on a hinge. The food zone, where the ice is made, can be accessed without removing the top or side panels, which is different from many of our competitors. All the component parts inside the machine can be taken out by hand without the use of tools.
Q: How about energy savings?
MM: Twenty-four of our Indigo NXT models are ENERGY STAR® 3.0 qualified. All our Indigo NXT machines are Department of Energy (DOE) compliant with the new standards for commercial ice machines.
Q: So, the Indigo NXT machine can deliver a better customer experience.
The Indigo® NXT from Manitowoc takes the guesswork out of owning and operating an ice machine.MM: We understand that the ice machine is not the top priority for an owner-operator. By having a machine that tells the operator what’s going on from one glance across the kitchen, they can see that it’s off, making ice, full bin or in the program mode. That provides peace of mind. For the end customer, it’s all about having fresh, clear ice in their drink.
We’ve put in more than a half-million hours of testing on these machines, so we really believe they’re the most reliable machines we’ve ever made.
