Top 8 Juice & Smoothie Franchises: AUV, Cost & Stats (2023)

If you’re considering opening a juice or a smoothie franchise, there are a few options available to choose from, each with their own pros and cons.

In this article we are giving you our top 7 picks of the best juice and smoothie franchises in the US.

And for each we’re giving you the key financials: the average initial investment cost and Average Unit Volume (AUV). Also, if you want to dig deeper, you’ll find the links to our complete review for each franchise below.

FranchiseUS franchised unitsInvestmentSalesNet worthLiquid capital
Tropical Smoothie Cafe1,038431,000962,000350,000125,000
Smoothie King995688,000573,000300,000100,000
Jamba747415,000597,000300,000100,000
Gong Cha129$353,000$299,000300,000150,000
Nekter Juice Bar127$419,000$683,000350,000125,000
Clean Juice106425,000577,000500,000120,000
Robeks85341,000606,000300,000100,000

Tropical Smoothie Cafe

US franchised unitsInvestmentAverage Unit Volume
1,038$431,000$962,000

Tropical Smoothie Café is an American restaurant chain with more than 1,100 stores in the U.S.

Headquartered in Destin, Florida, Tropical Smoothie Café was founded in 1997 by Eric Jenrich, Delora Jenrich, and David Walker.

It offers a menu of smoothies, sandwiches, flatbreads, wraps, bowls, and breakfast items. It serves superfood, classic, indulgent, and supercharged smoothies and supplements that may be added to each smoothie.

Its franchising journey began in 1998, and its first franchise opened in Tallahassee, Florida. It is franchised by Tropical Smoothie Franchise Development Corporation.


Smoothie King

US franchised unitsInvestmentAverage Unit Volume
995$688,000$573,000

Smoothie King is a privately held American smoothie company that offers nutritious smoothies made using organic veggies and whole fruits without adding colors, flavors, and artificial preservatives.

The company was founded in 1973 by Steve and Cindy Kuhnau but was later purchased by Wan Kim who was Smoothie King franchisee in South Korea. Today, the company operates in 1,400 locations globally with presence in the US, Grand Cayman, Korea, and Trinidad.

According to the official website of Smoothie King, the company is currently not expanding in international locations.


Jamba

US franchised unitsInvestmentAverage Unit Volume
747$415,000$597,000

Jamba’s is a leading American restaurant chain that focuses on blended fruit and vegetable juices and smoothies. Today the chain has over 800 locations in 35 states and 6 countries around the world.

Founded in 1990 by Kirk Perron in California, Jamba offers freshly blended fruit and vegetable smoothies on the go, as well as made-to-order bowls, freshly squeezed juices and shots, boosts, and bites.

The brand started franchising in 1993 and is headquartered in Sandy Springs, Georgia. It is a subsidiary of Focus Brands, which also owns Auntie Anne’sCinnabon, Carvel, and McAlister’s Deli.


Gong Cha

US franchised unitsInvestmentAverage Unit Volume
129$353,000$299,000

Gong Cha is a beverage franchise that spreads good vibes and delicious bubble tea. The tea drink franchise is headquartered in London, UK, and is famous for its delicious milk foam, coffee, milk tea, tea latte, and creative mixes. 

The brand’s story goes back to 1996 when Wu Zhenhua launched a premium tea shop in Taiwan.

In 2006, Wu opened Gong Cha in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, with a strong commitment to serving delicious drinks to the now-growing customer base in the region. 

The beverage company started franchising in 2009, expanding to Hong Kong to capitalize on the tourists’ craving for high-quality tea. 

The brand’s expansion spread to Korea, Japan, Australia, Mexico, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Today, Gong Cha operates over 1,800 units in 20 countries worldwide. 


Nekter Juice Bar

US franchised unitsInvestmentAverage Unit Volume
127$419,000$683,000

Nekter Juice Bar is an American casual fast food chain of vegan juices that serves a variety of freshly made, clean, and nutrient-rich juices, superfood smoothies, acai bowls, cold-pressed cleanses, and a variety of healthy snacks.

It was founded in 2010 by Steve and Alexis Schulze in Santa Ana, California, where it is based today. The chain began franchising in 2012, and today has more than 184 stores in the US.


Clean Juice

US franchised unitsInvestmentAverage Unit Volume
106$425,000$577,000

Clean Juice is an American faith-based restaurant chain of organic juice shops headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina.

It serves organic juices, smoothies, acai bowls, wraps, salads, and sandwiches.

The chain was founded by Landon and Kat Eckles in 2014. Clean Juice began franchising in 2016 and has over 125 locations in the US.


Robeks

US franchised unitsInvestmentAverage Unit Volume
85$341,000$606,000

Robeks is an American smoothie franchise based in Los Angeles, California.

The chain was founded by Davidson Robertson in 1996 in Southern California.

It offers smoothies, juices, frozen fruits, toasts, boosts, enrichments, and bowls. Robeks started franchising in 2001 and currently has 85 locations in the US.


Juice It Up!

Juice It Up! is a raw juice and smoothie bar company based in Newport Beach, California. Its menu includes classic and specialty smoothies, raw and cold-pressed juices, acai bowls and shots.

Driven by the need to keep his customers’ nutrition on track and boost their immune systems with essential nutrients, Frank Easterbrook founded Juice it Up! in 1995 in Brea, California.

Juice it Up! started by offering smoothies before shifting and introducing an expanded line of raw juice, leading to the retrofitting of its locations with raw juice bars in 2011. Then starting in 2012 it started offering additional healthy and functional beverages beyond its classical smoothies.

Today, the brand has thrived and grown into a recognizable smoothie, bowl & raw juice franchise nationally, thanks to its trend toward healthier lifestyles.

Juice It Up! began franchising in 1998 and currently it has grown to over 80 franchises across the US. It is owned and franchised by SJB Brands LLC.

Vitality Bowls

Vitality Bowls is a leading superfood café that presents a delicious menu of acai bowls, juice, wraps, panini, salads, grain bowls and smoothies.

The restaurant brings health and wellness to its clients through healthy and fresh superfoods. Everything appearing on the café’s menu is made fresh to order without any ingredient fillers such as artificial preservatives, ice or frozen yogurt.

The brand’s story dates back to 2011, when Roy and Tara Gilad launched it in San Ramon, California.

The duo was motivated by their daughter’s allergy to common foods and wanted safer, healthier alternatives.

The superfood café started franchising in 2014.Today, Vitality Bowls has grown significantly, operating in over 100 locations, with 70 cafes franchised in the US. 


Smoothie Factory

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