People want to eat healthier. Well, at leave more than in the past, according the recent studies about greater health awareness and the rise of organic product sales in the UK. Keeping on trend, it may be true that we will continue to see a focus on more transparent, health conscious food and restaurant options for the future. There are tons of possibilities when considering opening your own eatery, whether it is putting a health conscious twist on traditional dishes or inventing something totally new. And in a world that is picking up the pace, consumers are looking for even more quick options that they can feel good about.
An ideal mix of healthy yet fast food option is a smoothie bar. There are so many ways to incorporate hundreds of super food ingredients that your customers could consider a meal of their own. Here we list some important factors to consider that will help to give you the best results, both in terms of products and profit that will build customer loyalty and set you up for success.
Choose a strategic location
If you’re starting from scratch, a good idea would be to determine your target market. This will probably be more health conscious people or people that may have little time to stop and have a full sit-down meal. A perfect location could be next to a gym or health club or perhaps near office complexes, where workers may be looking for a good pick-me-up before work or on their way home.
Design for success
Just as you want to figure out the path of your target market, you also want to consider what will be important factors for their enjoyed experience at your shop. Bright, well planned, colour schemes will be a great way to welcome in customers with energy and excitement. A big part of this will also be to maintain transparency. This can letting your customers see exactly how the smoothies or juices are made and where the ingredients are stored (perhaps in transparent areas).
Use high quality ingredients
You want to make your menu have variety, so that every customer can find something they like, but don’t overpower with ingredients. A good way to do this is to create a step-by-step ordering process. Here is some inspiration for the ordering process for customers, including some great ingredients to choose from.
A difficult part of the ingredients process will be to ensure that you are offering high quality, delicious ingredients, especially because they will be raw. For fresh items, try to get the supply from local farmers, as this will ensure they are as fresh as possible as well as you can help to support the local growers (also a good thing for many customers!). Also consider, that you can supplement some fruits, for example, using freeze-dried options such as strawberries, which are simple to use and preserve the flavour of the fruit.
Develop a great menu
Along with offering customers the opportunity to customize their smoothies, you should also give them some inspiration through pre-planned recipes. This could include seasonal options such as a “Summer Heat Hydrator” or a “Winter Flu Buster”. Another good idea could be to offer “specials” for ingredients that may be more costly and not maintain freshness for very long. This could be by marketing a local fruit that is in season or by getting customers to try something that is a bit more exotic.
Get people to try your product
If you know you have a great product, the biggest challenge will be to let people know about it. Consider giving samples of your smoothies outside health clubs, for example. Make sure it is totally delicious of course!
