drive-thru · dutch-bros · dutch-bros-coffee · icecase · icevest-hivis · May 19, 2021

Drive Thru Dominance: How Qore Performance® helps Dutch Bros Coffee lead from the front

by Justin Li

If you love coffee, you know about Dutch Bros Coffee Arizona. They are one of the nation's premier QSR drive-thru operations. The speed, quality and service delivered by Dutch Bros Arizona is second to none. That starts with taking care of their teams to enhance performance. Using IceVest HiVis Cooling/Heating/Hydration Safety Vest (Class 2) and IcePlate® Hydration Backpack with Cooling/Heating for their teams in conjunction with IceCase iPad Cooling Cases for their iPads, Dutch Bros Arizona sets the standard in drive-thru excellence.

We caught up with Dutch Bros Arizona CEO Josh Hayes to learn more. Oh, he also has some tips and tricks for other businesses looking to upgrade to Qore Performance® cooling safety vests and iPad cooling cases...

In a team-forward move that is classically emblematic of the care Dutch Bros Arizona shows for it's employees, DBAZ started issuing IceVest HiVis Cooling/Heating/Hydration Safety Vest (Class 2) to every single team member...all 1100 of them!

Dutch Bros Coffee Arizona individually issues IceVest HiVis Cooling Safety Vests by Qore Performance for all 1100 team members

Back to INSIGHTS: Safety

Instagram Handle: @Smallville_Will

The ICEFLASK is something I didn't know I needed until it became a thing. As my position has been significantly downgraded, the need for a large amount of hydro on the X is no longer a thing. But, it still gets hot, and cold.
What ICEFLASK has allowed me to do is convert ICEPLATE into a permanent heating/cooling apparatus while still maintaining an adequate amount of drinking water.
Now, why ICEFLASK over any other water carrying device? Because of durability and kit-fit. The old school bladder was probe to bursting, creating an uncomfortable situation. Much like many other (nalgene, GI Canteen), the discomfort would come from having to "kit around" something that isnt built for accommodation. ICEFLASK fits into your kit, and works around what you've already built. Nothing says Fxxx it like having to rearrange your kit to add something as insignificant as "water"...
But, yeah. ICEFLASK, like many of the Qore products, is a good piece of kit.

The ridiculous hike in price makes this the last ice plate I will be purchasing. About $80 for a water bladder is not very affordable.

Hi Qunicy,
Thank you for taking the time to leave an honest review of your ICEPLATE® Curve experience. We are sorry to hear that you feel ICEPLATE® Curve is not very affordable, but we thought some additional information might be helpful context:
1. We've actually been able to DROP the price of ICEPLATE® Curve drinkable down to $75 from over $100 where it was in 2023 - still 100% Made in USA.
2. ICEPLATE® Curve itself is actually just $50. The Source90 Drink Tube is the other $25 and is completely optional. Our ICECAP is compatible with just about any drink tube on the market today for exactly this reason: user-choice. Details:
https://www.qoreperformance.com/products/source-90?_pos=1&_sid=ad152d88b&_ss=r
3. ICEPLATE® Curve is far more than a water bladder - it is a 24/7/365, all-environments, all-season heat-injury prevention tool that weaponizes temperature to enhance performance and survivability in the field. To date, ICEPLATE® Curve has roughly 7,000,000 hours worked in the field without a single minute lost to a heat injury since commercial launch in 2017. No water bladder on the planet can match this performance track record. Given that a hospitalization for heat stroke, rhabdo, or similar costs well over $40,000 in 2025, ICEPLATE® Curve is a bargain at ten times the price...
We hope this helps, but please let us know if you have any additional questions.
#StayFrosty
Qore Performance Customer Support Team

Fits right side port iceplate excellent! Managed to find iceplate exitport right on ebay. I do hope these can be produced again!

Truth be told, these had the potential to be very helpful for keeping cool but unfortunately I still find myself getting hot inside my vest.

They are super simple to use and install but the material should be thicker to give more space between you and your vest to allow more air flow.

Hi William,
Thanks for taking the time to leave an honest review of your ICEVENTS® experience. Two quick notes that will hopefully be helpful for you:
1. Previous generations of ICEVENTS® Pontoons were thicker, but customers complained that they were 'too thick' and wanted a thinner profile. We obliged.
2. ICEVENTS® significantly boost evaporative 'thermoregulation' but they will not make you 'feel' cool.' Here are the two articles from our INSIGHTS blog with the science and engineering deep dives behind ICEVENTS® real world performance against legacy materials and what to expect:
ICEVENTS® vs. Spacer Mesh, Foam
https://www.qoreperformance.com/blogs/military-insights/plate-carrier-cooling-heating-thermal-transmission-performance-of-plate-carrier-liners-like-spacermesh-sportskin?_pos=1&_sid=0f35f4da2&_ss=r
ICEVENTS®, Convection Testing
https://www.qoreperformance.com/blogs/military-insights/convective-cooling-conductive-cooling-and-pressure-distribution-testing-of-life-saving-equipment?_pos=8&_sid=4423636ab&_ss=r
3. For max airflow, push your ICEVENTS® all the way to the edges of your carrier.
We hope this helps, but please let us know if you have any additional questions.
#StayFrosty
Qore Performance Customer Support Team

Instagram Handle: Sjblanchard18

Good for certain loadouts

These pads are good if you’re wearing a kit that’s minimalist in nature. Once you start adding a considerable amount of weight to the plate carrier, these pads simply don’t have enough padding and do not disperse the weight far enough to relieve pressure points. Great product, love the company but if you’re wearing anything more than a basic loadout I’d recommend a different product.

Hi Shane,
Thanks for taking the time to leave an honest review of your ICEVENTS® Aero Minimalist Plate Carrier Shoulder Pads. Your observations are 100% spot on and consistent with our design/engineering intent as the ICEVENTS® model you purchased (Aero) are for minimalist/lighter plate carrier loads. ICEVENTS® Classic are for heavy/full duty loads. We note same on the product page above:
'BLUF:
ICEVENTS® Aero are for lighter, minimalist plate carrier setups, SOF and SWAT type applications.
ICEVENTS® Classic are for heavy, full duty/conventional combat loads loads and similar.'
Right below that guidance, we also provide this hyperlink to an article from our INSIGHTS blog with a detailed breakdown of the difference between ICEVENTS® Aero and ICEVENTS® Classic. Here is the link for your reference:
https://www.qoreperformance.com/blogs/military-insights/what-is-the-difference-between-icevents-classic-and-icevents-aero
Good news: it sounds like you just have the wrong product for your application. Better news: easy fix. Please feel free to reach out to us at Info [at] Qore Performance [dot] com and we'll be happy to see what we can do to get you the correct product for your application.
We hope this helps, but please let us know if you have any additional questions.
#StayFrosty
Qore Performance Customer Support Team

Great Product!

I used the my Icevents holster pad on a True North Concepts MHA during a 8hr live fire training course. Great all day fit and function. No issues, easy installation, comfortable and well made in the USA! Thanks for making this product.

Great product, terrible colors

Outstanding design, easy to work around if need be. 3 stars bc of the hi vis only colors. Bring back green, black, multicam asap

Hi,
Thanks for taking the time to leave an honest review of our ICESHIELD HiVis Hand Warmer. Unfortunately, we discontinued ICESHIELD Plus in military colors in 2024 as part of our SKU Rationalization Program. We had some units left in black, MultiCam, Ranger Green, and Coyote which were made available to our LaunchPad email subs, but they sold out almost immediately. Details on our SKU Rationalization Program can be found here or in the product description above:
https://www.qoreperformance.com/blogs/running-the-business/discontinued-product-sku-rationalization-explained?_pos=1&_psq=sku-rationalization&_ss=e&_v=1.0

We hope this helps, but please let us know if you have any additional questions.
#StayFrosty
Qore Performance Customer Support Team

Instagram Handle: CitizenGreyaArms

Great water bottle

The iceflask is a great addition to my kit. Puts water in previously dead space with the added ability to freeze it if needed. The pouch works great and adding paracord makes it easy to access.

Instagram Handle: rich__austin

Light Weight and Exceptionally Durable

Best plate carrier I’ve used. Does what they say it will do and is extremely comfortable. Impressed me so much I bought a second one.

Work great on my kit and keep the shoulders cool.

Drive Thru Dominance: How Qore Performance® helps Dutch Bros Coffee lead from the front

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