In 2021, you can’t go anywhere without witnessing the enormous impact technology has on our daily lives. This is especially true in business, and food and beverage brands everywhere have been working hard to keep up with the tech world around us.
At Smoothie King, we have paired the latest tech with our health-focused branding to add convenience for our guests looking to live healthy and active lifestyles.
Keeping it Mobile
These days, there’s an app for everything. Our Healthy Rewards mobile app makes for an even more convenient way for our guests to Rule The Day™. It allows them to mobile order for in-restaurant pickup, curbside pickup or delivery. It even rewards them with “Purpose Points” for every dollar spent, which they can redeem toward future purchases. Additionally, they receive a free smoothie on their birthday.
Besides rewarding their loyalty, the app also allows them to find Smoothie King locations near them and pay through their mobile device. This type of user experience, which provides guests with so many options to choose from, is just one factor that has continued to drive our record growth.
Bringing Our Clean Blends to Consumers
Traditionally, quick-service restaurant customers had to come in to receive their favorite products. These days, all that has changed. Even in pre-pandemic days, the food delivery industry was booming. It reeled in $22 billion in 2019, grew to $26.5 billion in 2020 and is expected to continue to rapidly develop. By 2025, food delivery app revenue is projected to nearly double– becoming a $42 billion industry.
Franchisees have the option to partner with multiple third-party delivery apps, including DoorDash, Google Food, GrubHub and UberEats. This allows us to deliver our guests’ favorite clean blends right to their door.
In a world where many are trying to balance their careers, personal lives and maintaining an active lifestyle, this efficient option can make all the difference. When they wake up early in the morning to go to the gym, they already have a smoothie waiting for them without having to stop on the way.
Promoting a Healthy and Active Lifestyle: The Smoothie King Difference
In the midst of the recovery phase of a major global pandemic, the desire to be healthy is apparent now more than ever. According to a recent survey, 54% of all consumers cared more about making healthy food and beverage choices in 2020 than they did in 2019. This survey also determined that healthy products influenced consumer decisions even more so than taste or price. Luckily, Smoothie King combines healthy and organic ingredients to create delicious results, all while rewarding our loyal guests along the way!
Upon stepping in as the Chief Executive Officer of Smoothie King in 2012, Wan Kim had a clear objective in mind: to promote a healthy and active lifestyle and help our guests reach their wellness and fitness goals.
That’s why we pride ourselves on our Clean Blends initiative. For those looking to take better care of their bodies, this is a major differentiator from other smoothie brands, whose blends often contain ingredients like added sugar, MSG, high fructose corn syrup and preservatives.
Instead, we have a whole “No-No List” of dozens of ingredients that you will not find in any of our ingredients. Each of our blends is made specifically for guests with certain dietary needs or health objectives. Our blend categories include “Stay Slim”, “Get Fit”, “Be Well” and “Take a Break” blends. We even have kids blends, so families can embark on their wellness journey together.
Our signature smoothies were created through years of research and development stages with our mission in mind. In fact, it took over 15,000 hours and 150 changes to create the health-focused blends our guests know and love today.
What the Future Holds for Our Smoothie Franchise
Even during the COVID-19 pandemic, Smoothie King opened a record 263 stores in 2020, surpassing 1,000 total stores in the U.S. We continued our growth by closing out Q2 of 2021 with a 34 percent year same-store-sales increase year over year and signing franchise agreements to develop 110 additional locations. We’ve opened 71 new stores domestically and abroad through the first half of the year—proving how powerful our mission and vision are by inspiring guests and franchisees alike to keep investing in our brand.
Each day, we are working toward expanding our selection of purposeful blends and our tech platform. We have started to explore options like voice commerce, utilizing Amazon Alexa and Google Home, as well as connecting with our guests via text message.
Between now and 2025, the smoothie market is expected to continue to grow by over 7% each year, and our smoothie franchise shows no signs of slowing down.
