A Juicy Future

Whether a business model is successful or not, sometimes
revamping just makes sense. For instance, Netflix moved from just
distributing content digitally to become a leading producer of
award-winning original content, exponentially multiplying its
profits while increasing its stock CAGR. With that in mind, a
purpose-driven business model transformation, or even a name
change, can propel a company to new heights, offering consumers
more to choose from and easier ways to obtain its products.


Beginning in 1990 as just a little juice shop that based its
business model around the idea that eating better should be easy,
for almost 30 years, Jamba Juice led the way in creating and
defining the smoothie and juice category as we know it. But last
year, the company dropped “Juice” from the brand’s name while
adding the tagline ‘Smoothies, Juices and Bowls’, reflecting a
wider array of offerings and more balanced ingredients. As Jamba,
the company also launched new store designs, improved its digital
platforms, upgraded their in-store experience, and more recently,
introduced food trucks into its business model. 


On today’s episode of The Main Course, host Barbara Castiglia
sits down with Jamba President Geoff Henry—a veteran of the food
& beverage sector with stints that include leadership roles
for some of the world’s most recognized brands (Coca-Cola,
Dunkin’ Donuts, etc)—to discuss the reasons and details behind
the brand’s extraordinary evolution, the importance of consumer
engagement via social media platforms, what gives them a leg up
on the competition, how they’ve fared during the pandemic, and
the partnerships and plans (food trucks!) for the future that
will help to keep pushing Jamba forward. 


“On the food truck side, obviously that’s a fun space—lots of
brands looking at food trucks. For us, we see it as one more
access point. We’re trying to make sure that we can serve the
guests wherever they are, whenever they’re looking for a Jamba.”
Henry continued, “To help increase the brand awareness and
touchpoints in many of our markets, we’re working with existing
franchisees to add food trucks to their portfolio of stores. And
then also, in certain geographic locations, starting with a store
and a food truck so that they can have more penetration for the
brand and build awareness in that market makes a ton of sense.”