When Smoothie King was founded in 1973, it was primarily created as a health-focused beverage concept. Over time, the brand added sugar to its products and created a treat destination, but when Wan Kim purchased the company in 2012, he was determined to revert Smoothie King back to the brand’s original vision. Recently, Wan sat down with Restaurant Business Editor-in-Chief, Jonathan Maze, to discuss the decision to cut back on sugar and the prioritization of the brand’s mission to inspire people to live a healthy and active lifestyle.

“We want to become an integral part of our customers’ health journey,” Wan said on the podcast. “One-third of our guests actually consume our products as a meal. I believe there are more and more people who believe this is a very convenient way to have their meal replacement.”

Today, the Smoothie King menu is organized into five categories based on customer’s needs:

• Energy, including coffee-flavored smoothies.
• “Get Fit” blends such as high protein smoothies flavored with banana or lemon.
• “Manage Weight” blends that include low-calorie smoothies or keto blends
• “Be Well” smoothies blended with vitamins and then a selection of treat-focused blends.

Although the change to a purpose-driven menu initially received guest pushback, it has now resulted in system sales increasing 72 percent to $615 million, unit count growing 42 percent and average unit volume increasing 17 percent.

“Since pivoting to a purpose-driven menu, we’ve attracted many franchisees to the Smoothie King brand because they believe in the mission. We also have seen many changes in our customer base, with guests now turning to our products for weight loss, or a recovery smoothie after a workout,” Wan said. “The change has been very successful and if we want to continue achieving our vision, we need to keep evolving.”

The brand’s mission has contributed greatly to the significant growth experienced over the last few years, and franchisees are excited to grow with Smoothie King because it’s a business to feel good about. Smoothie King helps people live healthier, more active lives, and does so by serving up their favorite smoothies blended from real fruit and vegetables.

To learn more about to joining the SK family and becoming a part of our purpose-driven community, check out www.smoothiekingfranchise.com.

View the full story from Restaurant Business, and Wan’s interview on “A Deeper Dive”, by clicking here.