Smoothie lifestyle

As fruit juice bars go, Fuzion Smoothie Café is huge. It is more a casual dining restaurant than the familiar cart or kiosk business model found in food courts all over Metro Manila

"Ours is a lifestyle concept that has a lot in common with international coffee shops. We encourage our customers to sit down and hang out with their friends. Instead of the usual coffee, however, we make to order healthy smoothies," said Meredith Ngo, managing director of The Smoothie Co., the Philippine franchise holder of a company that also has outlets in Singapore, Hong Kong, and China.

Since it opened for business in December 2004 with an initial investment of P7 million, The Smoothie Co. has put up two outlets. Four more outlets, including its flagship store in Greenbelt 3 in Makati, will be opened this month and next. By the end of the year, the company targets a chain of ten, all located in Metro Manila.

Difference

By definition, a smoothie is a blended fruit drink.

"Our smoothies are made without sugar or ice, which means better value for health because the sweetness comes only from the fruit’s natural sugars and value for money because there is no ice to dilute the drink. Each customer gets a drink that contains all the fiber and nutrients of the fruit," said Ngo.

The blending process uses imported IQF (individually quick frozen) fruits as well as locally purchased fresh fruits which are blast frozen in the span of two hours after delivery by special equipment in the company’s commissary.

"As a matter of policy, we try to use as many local fruits as we can. For example, we use as much locally produced strawberries as we can in one of our top-sellers, Very Berry Good, which combines strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries in one drink. The local strawberries are supplemented by imported ones when demand is high," said Ngo.

To make Fuzion more acceptable to the Filipino market, the company has introduced more food items that are not found in other outlets abroad.

"Our master franchisor has been very understanding, recognizing that we would have better knowledge of the Philippine market even though the company president, Jerome Uy, and I have spent most of our years since college working abroad," said Ngo. Both Uy and Ngo have MBAs from Harvard University and have worked with multinational companies. In the case of Ngo, she is now full-time with The Smoothie Co.

One of those flexible arrangements was the introduction of more food items to go with the smoothies.

"Filipinos like to eat something with their drinks. We offer a variety of pastas, wraps, rice meals, salads, and crepes, using many recipes which were inspired by our food experiences abroad. Most are fruit-themed but all are customized to the Filipino taste," said Ngo.

Sustainability

With 200 flavors in the pipeline, the company has already received franchising inquiries for Fuzion Smoothie Café, particularly for areas where its targeted market–the teens to mid-30s group–like to congregate.

Based on industry average, an outlet the size of a small casual dining restaurant would need an investment of at least P3 million.

"We are still finalizing our franchising standards and systems, which should be ready by the end of 2005. We will evaluate and award franchises on a case to case basis," said Ngo. "This is a sustainable business, not a fad. Fruits have always been a part of the Filipino diet across time and place. I have never met anyone who does not eat fruits."