August is your busiest month. Foot traffic is up, orders are flying, and the line at your counter does not stop. That is exactly when you discover your last case of cups is almost gone. According to a report, ice cream sales are higher by 2.5-3% in June-August than winter months, generating 35-40% yearly revenue.
This happens to more frozen dessert shops than most owners admit. The problem is not that they forgot to reorder. The problem is that August demand almost always outpaces what they ordered in June.
Summer is the peak sales season for the frozen dessert industry, and a week of record heat can burn through your entire cup inventory faster than you expected.
Here is what to do if you are already running low, and how to make sure this never happens to you again.
Step 1: Do Not Panic, But Do Act Today
If you are reading this and your cup supply is already getting thin, the first thing to do is place an order right now. Not tomorrow. Today.
Most wholesale suppliers can ship within a few business days for standard stock orders. If you use a reliable froyo cups supplier that keeps inventory ready to ship, you can often receive your order within 3 to 5 business days.
The longer you wait, the more you risk hitting a zero-inventory situation right in the middle of your peak weekend.
Step 2: Check What You Actually Have Left
Before you order, do a quick count. Walk through your storage and tally every cup size you carry: 8 oz, 12 oz, 16 oz, and any larger sizes. Count your lids separately. A mismatch between cups and lids is one of the most common problems shops run into during a scramble.
Look at your sales from the last two to three weekends. If your average weekend burns through 400 cups and you have 200 left, you know exactly how much time you have. That number also tells you the minimum quantity you need to order to stay operational.
Do not just order the size you are lowest on. If one size runs out and you cannot serve customers their preferred portion, you will lose sales even with other sizes still in stock.
Step 3: Have a Same-Day Backup Option Ready
Every shop needs a fallback for genuine emergencies. A few things that work:
First, do a quick audit of every size you carry. You may have more of one size than another, and temporarily adjusting your portion offerings to favor what you have in stock buys you time without turning anyone away.
A 12 oz cup running low does not mean you are out of options if your 16 oz supply is still healthy. Most customers care about the product, not the container size, as long as the value feels right.
Check if your wholesale supplier has local pickup available. Carryout Supplies offers local warehouse pickup in Los Angeles by appointment. If you are nearby and in a pinch, that is same-day access to the product.
As a last resort, a restaurant supply store can fill a small gap for standard generic cup sizes. You will pay significantly more per unit than you would buying frozen dessert cups at wholesale.
If you have been wondering whether you are already overpaying on a regular basis, we broke down exactly where boba and ice cream shops lose money on supply costs in our post on cutting supply costs in 2026.
How to Plan Ahead So This Never Happens Again
Getting through an August shortage is one thing. Not repeating it next summer is the real goal. Here is what actually works.
Look at Last Year's Data
Pull your cup usage from June, July, and August of last year. Most POS systems can generate a rough supply consumption report, or you can track it manually by matching orders against delivery receipts.
What you are looking for is your peak two-week consumption. That number, plus a 20 to 25 percent buffer, is your target inventory going into August.
If your shop is newer and you do not have last-year data, use this rule of thumb. Most people in the industry recommend planning two to three weeks ahead during peak season. Build your order schedule around that window, not around when you feel low.
Order for Summer in June
This is the single most important habit shift for any frozen dessert shop. By the time August arrives, supply pressure from other shops is already high. If you wait until mid-July to place a large seasonal order, you may find certain sizes on backorder or facing longer lead times than usual.
Order your summer supply of ice cream cups in early to mid-June. You will get better availability, potentially better pricing on bulk quantities, and you will not be racing against every other shop in your region doing the same thing in late July.
If you use custom-printed cups, add even more lead time. Custom orders for frozen yogurt cups wholesale typically require two to four weeks from artwork approval to delivery, sometimes longer during peak production periods.
If you want your branded cups ready for the July and August rush, your order needs to be in by late May at the latest.
Set a Reorder Point, Not a Reorder Date
Most shops reorder on a schedule: "We order at the beginning of every month." That breaks down in the summer because demand is inconsistent. A week of extreme heat can double your consumption.
Set a reorder point instead. Pick a number, say 30 percent of your target inventory level, and when your stock hits that number, you place an order regardless of where you are in the calendar. This is how restaurants that never run out of supplies actually operate.
Build a Relationship With Your Supplier
The shops that consistently stay stocked through summer have one thing in common. They work with a froyo cups supplier they know personally, not just a website they order from occasionally.
When you have an ongoing relationship with your supplier, they can flag you when a particular cup size is getting low in the warehouse before you would even notice. Some suppliers will hold reserved stock for regular customers.
One More Thing: The August Lesson Applies to More Than Cups
If you are running low on cups, check your utensils and to-go containers too. Supply crunches tend to hit everything at once when demand is peaking. A full storage audit right now will catch any other gaps before they become problems.
Your cup is not just a container. It is your customer's first impression of your product and your brand. Running out of them in August is not just an operational problem. It is a customer experience problem that affects whether that person comes back.
If you want to think more seriously about how your packaging shapes that impression year-round, our post on branding ideas that help ice cream shops improve customer experience covers that in full.
