Scooter's Coffee Turns Six New Lattes Into 7% Espresso Growth

One signature drink carried 15% of Scooter's Coffee's business for 27 years. In February, the Omaha, Nebraska-based chain finally gave it six companions — and the espresso category grew 7%.

That's the headline number behind the 'Licious Lineup, the flavor platform that earned Scooter's a 2026 Bevvy Award for "Best Coffee Program" and distinguished its menu this year. It's also a case study in menu engineering under tight physical constraints.

Scooter's builds its entire beverage menu — a range the company describes as a mind-blowing number of flavor combinations — from just 41 syrups and sauces. The average footprint is 688 square feet, and roughly 80% of the chain's 930 locations are drive-thrus. Each one runs at least two espresso machines and two blenders, plus refrigeration and storage.

"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."

Where the 'Licious Lineup came from

The origin story is almost accidentally entrepreneurial. A barista combined espresso, milk and caramel sauce roughly 27 years ago, when the chain was founded, and coined the Caramelicious name. It became the company's No. 1 and only signature drink, served hot, iced and blended, with limited-time extensions along the way — including Sea Salt Caramelicious, one of the brand's most successful LTOs.

Then came the strategic pivot. "About 18 months ago, we said, 'Hey, Caramelicious does so well, why not give it a few buddies,'" Dempsey said. "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."

The rationale was risk management, not novelty. "Espresso and coffee drives our business, but we wanted more flavor differentiation so we didn't isolate customers by just offering caramel," she said.

The lineup now spans chocolate fudge, cinnamon, honeycomb, strawberry shortcake and turtle — a mocha-caramel blend — with several carrying the 'licious suffix: Fudgelicious, Cinnalicious. Sea Salt Caramelicious moved from LTO to permanent after customers, in Dempsey's words, "begged for us to have it year 'round." Scooter's claims first-mover status on a fruit-flavored latte and an early honey version.

What does the innovation pipeline look like?

Every new drink starts with data, not taste tests. The chain digs through consumer and flavor trends, taps suppliers for their industry read, then runs concepts through consumer surveys measuring purchase intent before anything reaches a store.

Branded partnerships extend the funnel. Scooter's has worked with Chips Ahoy cookies, Little Debbie snack cakes and Sour Patch candies for flavor inspiration — collaborations aimed at widening the demographic and reaching guests who don't currently visit, according to Dempsey.

And the front line has a direct channel in. An internal menu-item suggestion tracker holds more than 1,000 submissions, and baristas can scan a QR code at any time to flag a gap — "Hey, we really need this kind of latte," as Dempsey put it. The company gives credit publicly, promoting in stores which employee inspired which latte.

The supply side anchors the program. Scooter's roasts its own arabica beans, sources them deliberately, and pours brewed coffee at every store in medium and dark roast plus a rotating flavored option — a base that keeps the flavor layer flexible without adding SKUs.

What does this change for operators?

The Scooter's model shows how a small-footprint, drive-thru-heavy chain can scale flavor variety without scaling complexity: a constrained syrup library, consumer-tested concepts, and employee-sourced ideas. With the 'Licious Lineup already lifting espresso sales 7% in its first year on the menu, expect the six-buddy platform to keep expanding as the chain hunts its next differentiated flavor.