Coke Solutions
Beverage Trends

Boost Your Beverage Business with Smoothies

Ways to refresh your beverage offerings

A simple whirl of a blender can excite and energize the beverage experience of your customers while helping to enhance your profits. Smoothies are appearing on more menus as consumers search for a tasty treat that’s seen as a refreshing snack, a meal replacement and even an indulgent dessert. And Minute Maid® Smoothies offer foodservice operators a way to meet consumer demand for a high-margin frozen beverage that’s popular and lucrative. Download our free booklet, Big Ideas to Jump-Start Sales with Smoothies, for every delicious detail about smoothie operations and execution.

Frozen concoctions find a welcoming audience in casual dining; fast casual, mid-scale and quick-service restaurants; theaters; amusement parks; gaming operations; hotels and many other channels. Smoothies can help increase the relevance of a beverage lineup by:

  • Extending into new dayparts and occasions, such as a late morning or evening snack
  • Bringing fun and excitement to the menu for consumers of all ages
  • Reinforcing your beverage business with branded signature products

To take advantage of the frozen opportunity, foodservice and on-premise operators need high-quality smoothie and specialty-beverage mixer products along with reliable blending (or dispensing) equipment that stands up to heavy use and delivers a consistent, tasty, well-blended drink every time.

Minute Maid Smoothies is an extensive line of frozen and shelf-stable smoothie mixes, designed to produce superior beverages. The mixes come in a variety of delicious fruit flavors and two dairy-based products – vanilla ice cream-based and a nonfat yogurt. A world leader in juices and juice drinks, Minute Maid is known for innovation, a key driver of consumers’ interest in smoothies. Equally appealing is they’re easy to make. Watch our videos to see how to create a smoothie from a frozen mix and how to whip up a smoothie from a shelf-stable mix.

For the adventurous at heart, dozens of specialty beverage options – such as Mangosicle Smoothie or Banana Cream Pie Smoothie – can be found in The Recipe Box.

Get Started
In light of the many benefits of a frozen beverage program, the following considerations will help determine if it’s right for your business:

  • Clientele: Factor the demographics, expendable income and expectations of your customer base
  • Equipment: Ensure it’s the best choice for your establishment and can produce desired recipes

Equipment varies, depending on a customer’s budget and requirements. The type of equipment should be based on the degree of automation (more or less labor intensive), noise level, speed of service, space limitations and availability of ice.

The Coca-Cola Company works with preferred equipment providers to help customers start a frozen beverage program that is efficient, reliable and can help drive more guests to their outlets.

Learn more by reading Mix Up Your Menu with 97 Minute Maid® Smoothies Recipes. For more information about Minute Maid Smoothies and how to start a smoothies program, contact your Coca-Cola representative. You can also access point-of-sale tools on Design Machine.

Published: April 22, 2014