The mistake with holiday stock is buying it for the holiday. One weekend, one case, and then eleven months of a box in the back that you cannot use for anything.
Red, white and blue is the exception, because in this country it is not a one-weekend palette.
A longer window than you think
Patriotic mixed ice cream cups are a red, white and blue assortment at 6 oz, described as a seasonal assortment for national holidays and summer events. That covers Memorial Day at the front of the season, Independence Day in the middle, and Labor Day at the end.
Three occasions, not one, spread across the months when a scoop shop does most of its trade anyway. Add local parades, town events and anything with a flag on it, and the case stops being holiday stock and starts being summer stock.
The mix is doing the work
This arrives as an assortment rather than a single color, and that matters more than it sounds. Three colors on a counter read as a theme. One color reads as a cup that happens to be red.
It also means you are not sorting anything. Staff take whatever is on top, and the counter looks intentional without anyone making a decision during a rush.
Why the single-scoop size
Six ounces is a standard single-scoop portion, which is the size that moves fastest at an outdoor event. People at a parade or a fireworks night want something they can hold and finish while walking, not a sundae that needs a table.
If you also run a smaller size for children, the pair covers almost everything an event throws at you. The reasoning behind running a dedicated kids' portion is in kids' portions in 4 oz cups.
Ordering it at the right time
Late summer is the wrong moment to buy for this summer and the right moment to think about next one. A case runs a thousand, which for most shops covers a full season of occasions rather than a single weekend, so the order does not need to be large. It needs to be early.
Put the reminder in for spring, before the season starts rather than during it. That is the same discipline that applies to anything seasonal, and it applies twice over to anything printed, where proof approval and production sit in front of delivery, as covered in how custom printed cups work.
If you would rather not commit
A seasonal cup is the cheapest way to make a counter feel like it noticed the date, but it is not the only one. A striped straw does a similar job for a smaller commitment, which we went into in paper straws for holiday service.
The seasonal assortments sit with every other size and finish in the ice cream cup range.