Bakery Franchise and World Record Holder

From its inception, Scooter’s Coffee set out to create amazing experiences for its customers. From crafting rich, smooth coffee to delicious baked treats, the business is thriving more than a quarter century later. In March of 2023, the company wanted to celebrate their 25th birthday in a big way. They targeted a world record—the world’s largest cake ball, to be precise.

The Largest Birthday Cake Ball

Founded in 1998, Scooter’s Coffee began as a drive-through coffee shop in Bellevue, Nebraska, USA. Scooter’s Coffee opened additional locations around Omaha before franchising the business in 2001. Now, with over 850 locations across the USA, Scooter’s Coffee offers a full range of food and beverages.

To weigh the massive treat with a method precise enough to pass Guinness World Records’ strict guidelines, Scooter’s Coffee partnered with Rich Lincoln from Scales Sales & Service. Guinness World Records requested a scale capable of weighing 300 kilograms (661 pounds) with a resolution of 1 gram (0.035 ounce). With a capacity of 5,000 pounds (2,268 kilograms), the rental Summit floor scale that Scales Sales & Service had in stock would need some adjustments.

“Achieving Guinness World Records’ specified resolution would not be possible at a high capacity, but we knew we could get a lot closer,” Rich remembers. “We swapped out the 5,000-pound load cells with 1,000-pound cells since we knew the target weight was in that range. At that capacity, we were able to achieve a resolution of 0.2 pounds, or 90 grams.”

Baking a World Record

On March 23, 2023, nearly 2,000 franchisees and employees gathered for the Scooter’s Coffee GROW Conference and 25th birthday celebration. It took two hours and approximately 30 employees to assemble the 11 cake layers and apply buttercream frosting and sprinkles. Each of the 50 Twinkie-sized sprinkles weighed approximately 2.5 ounces.

Once finished, the cake ball was transported to the scale for its official weigh-in. As it was placed on the scale, the results were finalized. Rice Lake’s weight indicator displayed the final weight at 848 pounds (385 kilograms), and a new world record was set!

Weighing Ensures Quality Throughout Operations

Scooter’s Coffee and Harvest Roasting are no strangers to Rice Lake’s solutions. While this unique application was best suited for a rental, they use Rice Lake scales and load cells throughout their regular business processes. Accurate weights are essential to maintain the quality and consistency of Harvest Roasting’s proprietary coffee blends.