For almost five decades, we’ve been serving our guests Smoothies With A Purpose to help promote a healthy and active lifestyle. We’ve evolved and innovated throughout the years to boost franchisee profitability and help them scale their business. After opening 109 stores in 2021 alone, we now have over 1,350 locations across the globe.
After a record-breaking year, our expectations for 2022 are at an all-time high. Between the latest and greatest technology, growing consumer and economic trends and promising numbers and projections, there’s never been a better time to open a Smoothie King franchise.
Fulfilling Demand and Remaining Resilient
As the COVID-19 pandemic swept across the globe the last two years, it sparked an increased focus on health and wellness in consumers. These days, people pay more attention to what they put in their bodies.
Trends like Keto diets, dairy and meat alternatives and at-home exercise equipment are skyrocketing in popularity as people become more concerned with their overall health. Recent reports show that over half of consumers care more about how healthy their food and drinks are than they did a decade ago.
Smoothies are a quick and easy way for our guests to get the nutrients they need each day; perhaps that’s why they’re in such high demand. The smoothie industry is projected to grow by over 7% each year throughout the next few years.
Our Clean Blends are full of impactful ingredients, such as vitamins and minerals, organic veggies, and whole fruit. Each smoothie has a unique purpose, whether it’s to help our guests get fit, lose or maintain weight or stay healthy. We even have a whole “No-No List” of unhealthy ingredients we never use in our smoothies, which allows us to meet the growing demands of health-conscious consumers.
Capitalizing on Technology
In a world where technology never stops evolving, it’s so important that franchisors continue to invest in it. At Smoothie King, we’re no stranger to doing so. Our innovative processes are just one of the reasons we stay ahead of competitors. By offering extra revenue streams for franchisees and added convenience for our guests, we’ve already experienced great success with utilizing the most up-to-date ordering platforms.
Between our Healthy Rewards loyalty app, curbside pickup and delivery and our latest advancements– Alexa voice ordering and text ordering, we’re continuing to lead the way for quick-service restaurants everywhere when it comes to capitalizing on the newest technology.
In fact, we’re just beginning to test a new concept: ordering through Sirius XM radio. This will allow drivers to safely place an order to their nearest Smoothie King location and have it ready for pickup or delivery when they get to their destination.
The best part for franchisees is that while these updated operations benefit their guests and store profitability, there is little they need to do to implement them. Every new process we roll out has already been tested and is integrated directly with our Point-of-Sale System so franchisees can experience the perks without having to do all the work.
Continued Growth and Profitability for Our Smoothie Franchise
Not only does technology contribute to a boost in profitability, but so does our flexible franchise model. For instance, having a drive-thru, curbside pickup and delivery at our locations mean our guests will visit more frequently.
These days, convenience is the key to success in the QSR industry. Consumers want to get what they want quickly and easily, and franchises that don’t make a serious effort to fulfill this need will fall behind. Even before the pandemic, drive-thrus accounted for 50 to 70 percent of all fast-food sales.
Another contributor to our record-breaking sales figures is our Healthy Rewards loyalty app. Rewards programs, in general, are on the rise, and many brands are scrambling to find ways to retain customers. Smoothie King was one step ahead of most of our competitors when we rolled our mobile app a few years ago, and now our digital revenue streams account for over 20% of total sales.
What’s Ahead in 2022
Between our new, convenient options like text and voice ordering through Alexa or Sirius XM, 2022 will be a big year for our Smoothie franchise. We experienced an impressive 16.5% year-over-year sales growth in 2021, and these new additions are expected to lead to even higher numbers this year.
In the past year alone, we welcomed 38 new franchisees and signed 196 store commitments, along with helping 63% of our current franchisees become multi-unit owners. We are always looking for new franchisees who share the same passion for health, wellness and open-mindedness when utilizing the latest technology.
