Our Story
The origins of ice vending and Kooler Ice.
Everyone has a story to tell, ours is being the pioneers in Ice Vending!
With a legacy spanning over 17 years, Kooler Ice has consistently demonstrated an unwavering commitment to the production of superior ice and water vending equipment, ensuring excellence from the outset. Our distinguished team, boasting 80 years of collective experience, encompasses adept professionals in production, sales, administration, and field service, diligently catering to our clientele each day.
Built upon entrepreneurial principles, Kooler Ice is steered by President Kerry Seymour and Vice President Jeff Dyson, who prioritize customer-centricity through the provision of cutting-edge products while extending support to emerging entrepreneurs and communities worldwide.
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Kooler Ice started in Montezuma, Georgia, back in 2007. Partners Kerry Seymour and Jeff Dyson opened their company after seeing larger ice houses around southern Georgia. After studying the market, similar to “Red Box Videos,” they realized ice vending was disruptive technology. However, they also discovered that the larger machines introduced then were too expensive, large, complicated, and costly to operate. So, they set out to design a more straightforward, smaller, and more efficient machine to give owners a higher return on investment. Today, Kooler Ice is the leader in Ice Vending, with the world’s most innovative and expansive product line and the most creative and vast product line!
July 2007, Kooler Ice introduced its first ice vending machine – the KI810. The design of the machine was revolutionary. It was smaller, easier to operate and maintain, and more energy efficient than the large available units the large available units, with an aesthetically pleasing, clean design. In addition, the price point for owning a machine was a fraction of the cost of the larger units. Seymour also saw a potential safety issue with having ice delivered from a chute without a bag. Kooler Ice decided their machine must automatically bag the ice to keep the product sanitary and convenient for consumers. So, they invested in the research and development of the bagging system. The KI810 was the smallest ice vending machine that automatically bagged ice, but it was also highly productive and more energy efficient to improve the owners’ return on investment. And it was highly successful.
Seymour and Dyson were still working on a design to make the machine even more energy efficient so that its profitability could be even more robust, and they designed and introduced the first KI810 model without a refrigeration unit in the Fall of 2008. This idea came from the recognition that it was cheaper to make the ice than try to keep it frozen in the bin. Removing and replacing the refrigeration unit with a specialized and well-insulated bin dramatically reduced utility costs. Utility costs were significantly reduced by removing the refrigeration unit and replacing it with a specialized and well-insulated bin, increasing owner profitability. It was an additional “earth-friendly” step for the ice vending industry.
Although the KI810 machine was “smart,” using messages and alerts on an LED screen that advised owners and customers about the machine, Kooler Ice found that its owners wanted more detail and information and didn’t want to have to physically go to the machine to get it, which led to Kooler Ice to develop a partnership with Prism Systems in Mobile, Alabama.
We worked extensively with Prism to create the first remote monitoring system for ice vending machines, allowing owners to access machine information from a smartphone, which allowed owners to access machine information from a smartphone or computer. This feature was a huge time saver for owners since they no longer had to go to the machine to find something that needed attention. The monitoring system automatically alerted them if the machine was out of bags, ice, etc. In addition, they could also monitor their sales! This feature allows our owners to work more efficiently, spending less time at the machine, increasing their return on investment, and enhancing their ownership experience.
Kooler Ice became the first and only manufacturer to introduce its iPhone application. Since then, Kooler Ice has worked with Prism to improve and add to the system’s features. This time, Kooler Ice has worked with Prism to constantly improve and add to features of the system that we now call “IceTalk.”. In the summer of 2013, Kooler Ice and Prism Systems were awarded the Siemens Customer Excellence for Innovation for their accomplishments using Siemens electronics. We continue to lead the industry with our extensive remote monitoring features today.
Kooler Ice has always prided itself on listening to the wants and needs of its owners. After getting customer feedback from various markets, Kooler Ice designed a filtered water vending feature that could be built into the same ice vending unit, allowing owners to add water sales through the same unit affordably. Recognizing that some areas of the country had poorer water quality than others, Kooler Ice also offered an RO (Reverse Osmosis) water vending system to improve those areas’ water and ice quality. Because ice and filtered water are naturally compatible, this was an easy and cost-efficient way to offer Kooler Ice owners another income source through the same machine —facility, again increasing their potential return on investment.
Kooler Ice introduced the IM1000 ice vending machine. This machine’s design was completely different from the original KI810 because it was designed with retailers and businesses in mind.
It had all of the cost-efficient features of the KI810, but it was designed to look like a soft drink machine (on steroids!). It was the first machine that Kooler Ice designed using Lexan graphics for a sharper look and easy cleaning. Its design was intended to aesthetically blend cleanly with a storefront with its more contemporary design. Shortly after it was introduced, Kooler Ice back-lit the graphics on the Lexan so that the machine could be seen more easily at night to help increase its presence and ability to be seen from the road. The Lexan graphics that we used on this machine were so well received that Kooler Ice now uses Lexan graphics on all of its machines.
Because of the success of its product line, Kooler Ice relocated to Byron, Georgia, to occupy a 30,000 sq. ft. Facility to accommodate its increased production needs. Kooler Ice’s Vice President of Operations, Bob Fosson, designed the new facility to be a state-of-the-art, lean manufacturing facility and oversaw the training of the plant employees so that everyone was focused on building the highest quality products available. Our dedicated workforce is a big part of Kooler Ice’s success!
Kooler Ice introduced the IM2500 ice vending machine. It is our largest and most productive unit to date. In designing this product, Seymour kept the smallest footprint possible in mind. Still, he developed the unit to accommodate additional ice makers, which could also be installed in the field, depending on the owner’s needs. This unit is the closest in size and capacity to our larger competitors. However, this model allows owners to purchase the unit with one or two ice makers initially but expand and contract their production (and therefore their utility use) as the season and production needs dictate – affordably. It has quickly become our best-selling unit due to its more modest size, energy and space efficiency, and high productivity. Consumers find the look of the machine more aesthetically pleasing because of the graphics and the look more aesthetically pleasing because of the graphics design. Its presence is not an eyesore to the community. This unit can also be equipped with a water vending station as well!
Kooler Ice introduced the new IM500. This model was designed to have a trimmer depth to fit on the sidewalk of storefronts, allowing for more sidewalk space and more efficient traffic flow with the unit. Its size was designed to fit in the space of the businesses’ ice freezers to seamlessly replace their current ice delivery system, allowing business owners to retail their ice and fix their ice costs into the future (which were previously affected by rising fuel and labor costs). It was also an ideal solution for locations that wanted to affordably add ice as a secondary income stream to maximize their revenue from their high visibility location but had limited space available. The IM500 is the lowest-priced machine in our model lineup.
Due to the continued growth and sales in the ice vending business, Kooler Ice began another plant expansion, which will increase the facility from 30,000 sq. ft. to 45,000 sq.ft., providing additional production capacity, a larger parts warehouse, and the addition of R&D area where Seymour and his team can continue their work on future product innovations. Our machine owners keep telling us what they want – and we keep listening and incorporating new features and improvements into our designs. Today, our models are the top-selling ice vending machines in the world.
Kooler Ice introduces the first industrial-sized, non-retail ice and water dispenser, the Hydration Pro. The Hydration Pro became the first ice and water dispenser made with the ability to go indoors or outdoors. The Hydration Pro comes standard with a 550lb ice storage bin, and it can dispense ice and filtered water into various container sizes, from a 1-quart personal container to a 10-gallon water cooler. With ease of use in mind, we designed the Hydration Pro so that all users have to do is push the ice button continuously to dispense ice and the water button continuously to dispense purified water.
The Hydration Pro’s large capacity, Pro large capacity heavy duty design allows companies to hydrate their employees for a fraction of the cost compared to buying bagged ice or storing and taking delivery of 5-gallon water bottles. Kooler Ice’s Hydration Pro is a low-cost way to hydrate your employees!
Kooler Ice introduces the IM600 and IM600XL, the industry’s most minor, most productive ice and water vending machine, most miniature, the most productive ice and water vending machines. The critical design criteria for the IM600 was to allow the unit to be easily placed out in front of a retail center, with as small a footprint as possible, realizing ADA was becoming increasingly more and more important in the ice vending industry. The IM600 was designed for ADA access since the unit is only 3’ deep and 4’7” wide. This compact design makes placement easier while boasting a 550lb insulated ice storage bin that holds 50 10+lbs of ice ready to vend every morning.
The IM600XL was also introduced at the same time. The IM600XL is 17” more comprehensive than the IM600, allowing a water station and reverse osmosis filtration system with a storage tank. At 6’ wide, the IM600XL offers both purified ice and water, all in one machine! Regarding production, both machines can produce as much as 90+ 10lb bags of ice per day, depending on the chosen ice maker. Since its introduction, the IM600/IM600XL quickly become a standard in the ice and water vending industry!
Kooler Ice introduced the IM1500 Ice Vending Machine. The IM1500 was designed to provide owners with a very productive machine that is very productive with the ability to add a 2nd ice maker at a later date while still keeping the footprint relatively small. The IM1500 offers a 1500 lb vacuum-formed, double-walled, insulated ice storage bin and can be equipped with one or two 1900 lb. Scotsman Ice Makers. The IM1500 can fit in one parking space and comes equipped with a high-efficiency LED lighting package, easy-to-clean, easy-to-clean, high gloss Lexan, and the best monitoring system on the market. The unit was also designed with a water vending station and reverse osmosis water filtration system. The IM1500 quickly became the number-one-selling ice vending machine in the world.
Throughout this growth process, Kooler Ice has had one goal—to provide owners with the most reliable, durable, and innovative machine in the industry and to support its owners to the highest standards possible!”
This philosophy has made the Kooler Ice brand of ice vending machines the best value for its owners. We couldn’t have grown and advanced to where we are now without them (and you!).