Making Smoothies Healthy Again
By Angela Altass
Food tech company smoodi, based in Boston, Massachusetts, is on a mission to make smoothies healthy again and sees convenience stores as the perfect location to offer natural, vegan, no sugar added smoothies.
“The term smoothie has been misconstrued in the convenience store space over the years to a sugary drink with a fruit component to it,” commented Pascal Kriesche, co-founder and CEO of smoodi. “At smoodi, we are setting out to change that. Our research suggests that consumers are demanding smoothies that not only taste great but provide nutritional benefits as well.”
Launched out of Harvard’s Innovation Lab, smoodi’s automated, self-serve blender can be found in convenience stores throughout the United States and will soon be expanding into Canada. The company recently announced a partnership with Dot Foods, the largest food industry redistribution company in North America,
“Dot Foods will help us expand into Canada,” says Kriesche. “So far, we have been focused on the U.S. market given our existing distribution partnerships. However, since Dot Foods has a distribution infrastructure in Canada, our partnership will allow us to ramp up operations in any region in Canada.”
Along with its proprietary platform that blends and cleans by itself, smoodi offers prepared flavours using fresh, real fruit that has been frozen at peak ripeness.
“We like to think that we’re recalibrating what the term smoothie means in the marketplace in terms of nutritional value.” Says Kriesche. “Our products are made with real fruit. The entire experience is completely transparent as consumers can see the smoothie made right in front of them so they know exactly what they’re consuming. We’re able to provide a delicious product while offering amazing health benefits.”
The technology allows any retailer to incorporate smoodi as there is no labour required and zero food waste associated with the program, says Kriesche.
“Convenience stores are the perfect place for smoodi because historically they’re places where healthy and delicious food could not be found,” states Kriesche. “We have a tremendous opportunity to redefine what smoothie means in this space and help consumers to make healthy choices.”
Kriesche believes in a world where you don’t have to choose between convenience and well-being.
“At smoodi, we like to think that we’re empowering healthy habits by creating a nutritious and great tasting product that can easily be accessible by anyone,” says Kriesche. “We’ve designed our program with convenience store owners in mind and we couldn’t be more excited to expand into Canada. Our partnership with Dot Foods allows extreme flexibility in terms of minimum order quantities and lead times.”
Labour is a huge challenge for convenience stores and smoodi allows operators to seamlessly offer an entire smoothie program with no extra labour requirements, notes Kriesche.
“Our machine is completely automatic,” says Kriesche. “The setup only requires 40 inches of counter length so that even the smallest convenience stores can have a smoodi program.”
This is a huge opportunity to bring a new, more health-conscious demographic into c-stores, says Kriesche, noting that smoodi allows convenience stores to satisfy consumer demand for fresh and healthy options.
“If you’re a store that is interested in offering a healthy smoothie program or a distributor looking to carry a novel, fresh and healthy program, we would love to talk with you,” states Kriesche. Further information is available at www.getsmoodi.com.
