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Juice wars
With new locations popping up and more on the way, competition in local smoothie, juice market getting tougher
| Thursday, Jul 26 2007 6:30 PM
Last Updated: Thursday, Jul 26 2007 6:33 PM
Local fruit smoothie shop operators Sharon and John Essert don't need to look far to find competition.
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Sharon Essert at her business, Beyond Juice.
Beyond Juice owner Sharon Essert makes the top-selling “Meal in a Cup,” which includes strawberries, bananas, honey and vanilla. The business says the smoothie provides two-thirds of the daily recommended amount of fruits and vegetables.
Beyond Juice store manager Renee Ross gives customer Eliot Davis his Meal Deal — a “meal in a cup” with a half sandwich.
Beyond Juice owner Sharon Essert produces three ice-cold smoothies.
Sharon Essert, left, owner of Beyond Juice, relays a phone order to her store manager Renee Ross. The store's top seller is the Total Energy smoothie, which includes strawberries and bananas, as well as honey and vanilla to sweeten the smoothies.
The Beyond Juice location the couple opened a year ago inside a strip mall just northwest of the intersection of California Avenue and Stockdale Highway is only a stone's throw from a Jamba Juice shop.
"We're right across the street," John Essert said. "If a juice store goes where we are, it will go just about anyplace."
The local smoothie store market has become increasingly saturated, mirroring a nationwide trend of rapid growth.
Jamba Juice has three Bakersfield locations with a fourth expected to open later this year at Valley Plaza Mall.
Juice It Up! has two locations in Bakersfield with a third set to open at Brimhall Square on the corner of Brimhall Road and Calloway Drive by early next year.
Other juice bars such as Beyond Juice and Surf City Squeeze have started popping up around town, and more appear to be on the way.
"It is a growing segment," said Sheri Miksa, president and CEO of the Robeks chain, which has more than 100 locations nationwide and plans to expand into the Bakersfield market. "Our plans are to continue to build out in markets we are already in today and to fill into new markets."
Fruit smoothie sales in the United States have shot up by more than 80 percent since 2001, topping $2 billion last year, according to market research firm Mintel International Group Ltd. Mintel predicts smoothie sales in the United States will increase by 13 percent this year to almost $2.3 billion and could nearly double to $3.8 billion by 2011.
"People want to be healthy and want to have more healthy choices," said Cindi Lai, partner and store manager of a Juice It Up! that opened on Coffee Road next door to China Bistro in September. "People are searching for healthier and quicker options, especially when on the go. It seems like people don't have time to sit down and eat lunch anymore. It's quicker just to get a smoothie and run your errands."
A recent National Restaurant Association survey of quick-service restaurants found 71 percent of adults said they were trying to eat more healthy when dining out. The same survey found a 32 percent increase in the ordering of fruit smoothies.
"There is more interest in them," said National Restaurant Association spokeswoman Chrissy Shott. "What we've been seeing is adults say they are trying to eat more healthy now when they eat out than they did two years ago. We are seeing more healthy fare."
Beyond Juice markets its products as a "Meal in a Cup," claiming its basic blend meets two-thirds of consumers' daily fruit and vegetable allowance without significant amounts of fat and cholesterol.
"This is the answer to the fast-food dilemma," John Essert said. "Everything you need for the entire day is in one drink."
He said some customers substitute smoothies for one or two meals a day.
Leah Carter, a registered dietician who teaches nutrition classes at Bakersfield College, said fruit smoothies are generally low in fat and high in nutrients, but recommends using them as an occasional meal replacement or in place of a less healthy snack like potato chips or desserts like ice cream.
A small, 16-ounce blended fruit drink can vary from fewer than 200 calories to as many as 400 calories, according to information provided by several of the smoothie shops. A large, 30- or 32-ounce serving often contains more than 600 calories. Some also contain processed sugars, sherbet or frozen yogurt.
"You have to be careful with fruit smoothies because you can get the same number of calories in a fruit smoothie as in a Big Mac and french fries," Carter said.
Carter recommends consumers ask for nutrition information, which is available at many stores and on some chains' Web sites.
Essert touts the health value of Beyond Juice's drinks, saying that a 20-ounce cup of top-seller Total Energy has only 225 calories. The drink contains strawberries, banana, honey, vanilla, shaved ice and the chain's basic blend, which includes amino acids, wheat germ, folic acid, beta-carotene and vitamins A, B1 and B2.
Jamba Juice has also introduced a line of light fruit smoothies, which the company claims has half the calories, sugars and carbohydrates of its regular smoothies.
In addition to traditional fruits such as oranges, strawberries and bananas, some stores are beginning to offer more exotic flavors, like the Brazilian acai berry, which is high in antioxidants and amino acids.
Some smoothie shops have also started carrying sandwiches, salads, tea and coffee.
The health angle appears to be an especially strong draw for juice bars' main customer base -- young adults.
More than half of respondents between the ages of 18 and 34 in a Mintel survey earlier this year said they had consumed a smoothie in the last month at one of the nation's more than 4,000 smoothie joints.
"It has become more mainstream," said Miksa of Robeks. "There has been a broadening of the appeal as more flavor options have been put out there. It is in many ways where specialty coffee was a decade ago. The smoothie market is still relatively new, but it meets customer needs by offering more healthy options."