Bruster’s Real Ice Cream has begun its move to NCR Voyix’s Aloha Next point-of-sale system at its Bridgewater location in Pennsylvania. The supplier announced October 29 that the restaurant was live with both the new POS and Voyix Kitchen. NCR describes it as the platform’s first live restaurant POS deployment.
For Bruster’s, the switch comes with continuity at the counter. Sean Krings, its senior vice president of operations and IT, told Restaurant Business that pricing would be comparable to its previous system and that the chain could keep its existing hardware.
The initial installation precedes a wider deployment under a multiyear agreement covering nearly 700 devices at 230 corporate-owned and franchised stores. Bruster’s plans to use Aloha Next and Voyix Kitchen across that network, along with Voyix Pay for payments, according to NCR’s announcement.
Bruster’s had used Aloha since 2016 and was considering other systems before NCR presented the upgrade, Restaurant Business reported. Krings described the old system as becoming too complicated to change efficiently. He said the new version would allow easier software integrations and more choice of hardware for accepting payments in the drive-thru line. The employee-facing system remains similar to the existing one.
NCR’s Voyix Edge documentation describes how cloud management can coexist with software running at the restaurant. The platform is designed to run applications on existing local hardware while letting teams manage deployments and updates centrally. It also provides a way to roll back an update.
The immediate work at Bruster’s is more specific: the chain and NCR are adjusting the software around its order flow and rotating menu, Restaurant Business reported.
NCR’s announcement describes more than 150 flavors spanning ice cream, oat-milk options, sherbet, Italian ice and sorbet, with at least 24 in rotation each day. Stores make small batches of ice cream on site every day, using a mix supplied by the brand’s Pennsylvania dairy.
Krings told Restaurant Business that the franchisee council had urged the brand to move faster with the rollout.
QSR Pro Staff
The QSR Pro editorial team covers the quick service restaurant industry with in-depth analysis, data-driven reporting, and operator-first perspective.
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