bake - May 2014 - 60

cafe

Be "Smooth"
Seven out of 10 consumers (71%) now purchase beverages

Smoothie Production

away from home twice a week or more often, up from 66% in

A high-quality blender coupled with high-quality ingredients

2010. As the economy stabilizes from the recession, restau-

and some experimentation is all that's needed to start making

rants and retail foodservice locations are well-positioned to

smoothies and increasing your bottom line. Start with liquid.

boost beverage sales. Beverages act as a high-margin add-on

This can be water, milk, yogurt, or fruit juice. Add something

that can help increase check averages for operators and

frozen, whether ice, frozen juice, or frozen fruit. Add fresh or

also increase the overall dining experience for consumers by

canned fruit or vegetables to taste. Add any extras, like spices,

providing an added element of ﬂavor to a meal, or in the case

peanut butter, protein powder, powdered vitamins, or whatever

of smoothies, be a meal substitute.

your heart desires.

According to Technomic research, specialty coffees, specialty

Most smoothies take a little bit of liquid as an ingredient.

teas, and smoothies, exhibited growth at Top 500 limited-

This can be water or milk or cream or a non-dairy substitute,

service restaurants. Smoothies, including fruit smoothies, grew

such as soy or nut milk (almond works well). Some smoothies

by 8.5%, while the protein-enhanced varieties jumped by 123%,

even use apple or other fruit juices. Add the liquid ﬁrst. This

proving that smoothies have become a menu mainstay.

will collect around the blades of your blender and help move
around the other ingredients so that everything gets blended.

"Today's foodservice consumers continue to base dining deci-

Remember that when you mix things, larger ingredients

sions on their perception of value," says executive vice president

will bubble up to the top (they won't ﬁt in the small spaces

of Technomic, Darren Tristano. "Innovative operators are creating

beneath). You need a powerful vortex and lots of things

value by crafting new and unique beverages including specialty

moving around quickly to mix them into the center where the

lemonades, handmade sodas and 'mocktails' that are uniquely

blades can chop them.

ﬂavorful, fresh and a better-for-you option." Smoothies ﬁt
perfectly into the category of "new and unique" beverages.

Making smoothies with yogurt is a little bit different, but very
popular and worth the experimentation. It's not quite a liquid,

With nearly a third (29%) of consumers saying they like to try

so you may need to experiment to see if you need ice or a little

new and unique beverages, operators can build their cred-

bit of water or juice. Use Greek yogurt over plain for its texture

ibility and bottom line by leveraging trending ﬂavors with more

and touch of ﬂavor, but your taste will vary. Honey ﬂavored

creative beverage offerings.

yogurt is also good.

Staple fruits such as bananas and strawberries will always sell

The rule of thumb for the best healthy smoothie recipes is ¼ to

well. In addition, tropical fruits such mango and pineapple, and

⅓ cup of liquid per each cup of solid ingredients. Experiment

the inﬁnite number of combinations create interest and will

with methods and ingredients to ﬁnd what works for you and

likely attract more than just your regulars.

your customers.

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