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Hatsuyuki Shave Ice Machines

Shave Ice

You always have to try to differentiate yourself from the other person.  Have your booth, cart or trailer look nice and clean and eye catching.  Have your people dressed in hawaiian shirts or other matching shirts.

I also always use the flower cups because they are attractive and eye catching.  Customers will look for you and you can get a higher price.

One other thing.  Giveaways can also help your sales and beat competition.  I always carry Hawaiian leis with me for this purpose.  They are cheap and people love getting them.

I once lost a sale because I did not have a little drink Parasol in my shave ice.  So these could be a good item to carry also.

About Ice

Karen, each event is different.  I have used as much as 2 ½ tons of ice for an event.  It takes some forethought in planning for ice.  First, I do not own an ice maker.  I buy ice from several different companies.

If I’m doing a real large event I find out if the sponsors are going to have an ice vendor on site.  If so I find out who and check to see their pricing.  If it is too high, say $5.00 for 25 lb bag I will sometimes have a company drop off a box only for me.  Sometimes they charge a rental of $50 for the box and wholesale me the ice for about $2.50.

Most normal size events I’ll take about 10 picnic coolers with me with 2 25 lb bags in each cooler.  Igloo makes a 5 day picnic cooler for about 19.00 at Wal-mart or other discount store which are very good to use for your purpose. 

Remember that hard frozen ice should not be used anyway so the ice will be the proper temperature when used.  If I have need for more I make a trip to the closest store.

Hope this helps.

Bob Russell

PS: Is it ok for me to use your email on my web site?

Hi, Bob,

I just got back from the Sandy Shoes Festival, which I could not participate in because another vendor, two in fact, were doing shaved ice and beat me to applying to participate. Naturally, I went to check them out. One had a Hatsuyuki cube shaver. I made a purchase and I must say that one advantage of the cube shaver was immediately apparent. She only put ice in it when she had an order, whereas once I put a block in mine it stays in the machine melting away if there are no customers, with me shaving a little bit every couple of minutes so that is doesn’t melt onto the blade and not turn readily when a customer eventually shows up.

Anyway, her shaver looked like it had been in combat, so maybe it had not been properly maintained and/or perhaps the she was not diligent about making sure the blade was sharp. Regardless, there was no comparison between the ice produced by her machine and mine. She was serving syrup over crushed ice, rather coarsely crushed at that, no different than a snow cone. It was not remotely close the the snowy quality my block shaver produces.

(Ditto for the other shaved-ice vendor at the event, who had one of those monster horizontal-shaving New Orleans Snow Ball machines. I must say, it filled a cup with ice faster than I could believe, like two or three seconds. However, it, too, was crushed ice, not shaved ice. In fairness, she told me in advance that her blades were dull, because she doesn’t know how to sharpen or replace them. Her husband does that, and he suffered some sort of malady that prevented him from servicing the shaver. As an aside, her machine is not suitable for ditzes. She somehow managed to cut off her finger at the first joint and showed me the scar from having it sewed back on after retrieving it from the cup of ice she was shaving and taking it to the hospital with her.)

So, my question to you is how does my description of the ice produced by this particular Hatsuyuki cube shaver compare with your own experience? Is the difference between a block shaver and a well-maintained cube shaver with a sharp blade as great as what I just observed? I ask because the convenience, both in use and availability of ice, is compelling, especially for huge multi-day events. However, aside from the fascination of seeing how the machine works, my customers are very taken with the product my block shaver produces and they can clearly differentiate between the virtual snow that comes out of my machine and the crushed-ice snow cones they have had, whereas there was no difference to speak of between the shaved ice I bought that was produced by the cube shaver and that which snow-cone vendors sell.

This isn’t about being an obsessive purist. I’ll sell whatever makes the most money the easiest, but with the superior-quality product my block shaver produces, I suspect I could have buried both shaved-ice vendors at this event if I had been allowed to participate.

Wojay
Kone-Tiki

Bill, I couldn’t have said it better myself.  I have been telling people this for years!  The Hatsuyuki H500E block shaver makes the finest product period.  I do use the cube shaver for convenience at special events but the HC8E does a fine job but only about 98% of the H500E block shaver.  The difference is in the ice itself.  With a block shaver you have a larger surface to shave from, hence the fluffier snow. 

As you pointed out the shaver blade must be well maintained.  These blades are very precise and cannot be sharpened to get the same consistency as a new one.  I have gone to very large blade sharpening companies and they are not able to sharpen the blades correctly, so you can’t do it with a file either.  The sharpening dilemma holds true with all shave blades.

Please be a purist.  This allows you to care about the product you serve and if you care you will sell more.  I would say the lady with the HC8E didn’t know any better or didn’t care.

I don’t know how the lady cut off her finger with a Hatsuyuki machine.. I don’t think it would be possible.  Maybe a piece of skin?  Both Hatsuyuki machines have safety switches that does not allow it to operate while the ice chambers are open.