There's a trick to it but it seems ice-cream out of buffets always either look like a 🍆 or a 💩.

The buffet machines don’t blend the mix with air. It’s thee air that gives soft serve its shape.

F**king bullshit.

It’s true though. The buffet and McDonalds type machines just use bagged or a bottle like a water cooler water bottle.
If someone is serving the ice cream, there is a “bell valve” to adjust, and you need to pull it out to prime the machine. There are also different grands and grades of the mix.
Another crazy thing*p is that the more air, the moe shape of the ice cream and the longer it will take to melt. The air is free, of course. But the ingredients/mix aren’t that much of the cost. The money is in the purchase of a good (Italian is best) ice cream machine, and the regular cleaning and food grade lubrication of moving parts.

I hear you.