Smoothie Mixes

[T-Rai]

Hello! I'm trying to determine what kind of smoothies I should sell. I'm going to be opening in a couple months and have thought all along of using Island Oasis, but not sure if that's a wise call due to some things I face at the coffeehouse I currently manage. What are some different kinds and does anyone use a powder? That just seems wrong. But hey if it works and it's good. Is it ok if I'm asking this?

 

[Comfy Place]

Smoothies

Here's my 2 cents (perhaps soon to be 5?)...

We use Big Train as our smoothie provider. They are a liquid puree, and are easy to store, handle, and prepare. Presently they have 9 different flavors, but you can mix and match to create a number of additional flavors, plus if you start adding syrup flavors, well, the sky's the limit.

We have also sampled Jet Tea Smoothies and the Torani Frusia, but neither are as good as Big Train, in our opinion. I would contact each of these and any others that you are considering to request samples so that you can judge for yourself. The other alternative is to make them with real fruit, etc., but that would be a lot more work. Good luck to you!

 

[ontrees]

Smoothie mixes

Hi there,

What I actually prefer is just using frozen fruit. There are companies that sell single serving frozen fruit mixes, or you can mix your own blends. This can be easily done in just about any type of freezer, and takes little or no extra effort to make.

I never add ice to any smoothies.

The benefits - a much nicer final product, and health benefits - no sweeteners, no artificial flavors, no added chemicals, etc.

Drawbacks - people are used to overly sweet, artificially flavored things. If you do the single serving packs, the cost is a little higher than using mixes.

My basic recipe -

Fill blender to just under cup size with frozen fruit, cover fruit orange juice - blend!

To make it sweeter, for an additional charge, you can add frozen yogurt, vanilla frozen yogurt, etc.

You can also add other "add ons" - protein powder, etc.

I usually just stick with the basic recipe and only rarely have someone that doesn't think it is sweet enough - people usually start coming in for them everyday!

Have fun!

 

[freetodream]

We use Big Train as well. People actually love them, and we have regulars who come in daily for their smoothie.....

 

[Java Rocks Tony]

i had more waste than i wanted with the Big Train and JetTea so I went with frozen fruit. I use only raspberries, blueberries and strawberries because they are easier to find frozen already. the only fruit i buy fresh are bananas, and i peel, break and wrap them in wax paper and freeze them. takes me 5 mins to do. i also use the corresponding flavor along with ice and smoothie powder and HOT water. it's very full flavor, due to the smoothie powder that also adds bulk and fullness to the smoothie. here is my recipie:

fill half of any sized cup with a mix of frozen fruit, or just one type.
fill rest of cup w/ice
now pour in correct/corresponding parts syurp (test so u know how much to put in of each) i use 1/2 oz of each flavor fruit i have in the cup.
fill cup with HOT water to just below rim (hot water makes the frozen fruit blend better)
dump in blender, add smoothie powder (1oz) and blend. i use Mocafe madagascar vanilla.

not much, if any loss here, or any left. my customers love them! and so do i lol

 

[Deb LaJoie]

smoothie mixes

I use Island Oasis and have also used Big Train Fruit Tea Blasts in my Oasis machine. Island Oasis (IO) comes frozen. We thaw and keep a few each in a cooler in front and the rest is in a freezer in storage. It does take up a lot of room and if you are not vigilant in stocking the frig, you can run into problems with running out. Big Train does not need refrigeration until you open it but the blasts are the only liquid bases they have and not everyone likes tea in their smoothies.

Folks love IO but they are sweet and not very healthy. We do alot of mixing and signature smoothies such as Fluffernutter (with p butter and Torani toasted marshmallow syrup in IO's ice cream base). Our biggest seller is mocha using cold espresso, choc syrup and ice cream base. We also do chai smoothies (1/2 chai, 1/2 ice cream base), yerba mate smoothies (same recipe)--you can be very creative.

I am now researching other products and I am very interested in finding out more about Dr. Smoothie. It doesn't use sugar and I'm looking for a healthier alternative to IO.

 

[La Crema Coffee]

AUgh! call me...and I'll share all I know. I use both jet tea, and Big Train Fruit smoothie Blast.....I also use IQF ( instant quick forzen fruit) reguarding " waste" it's all about training and accurate measuring..I can help, and I lve to help.


CIAO

 

[muddycup1]

we use big train we have small measuring cups that we use for each drink we make no waist! jet tea is a free pour product to much waist.

 

[Java Rocks Tony]

i used to use jet tea, but did not free pour. we all thought it was WAY too sweet to use even 3-4oz, which is what the average was if u free pour it. we used 2 oz per 16oz, and 2.5 for the 20oz. it made a pretty perfect smoothie, i might add but there was too much waste for some flavors that were not used as often as the biggest seller here, strawberry-banana.

 

[kc1]

We use frozen fruit and use the appropriate cup as the portioner - frozen fruit, ice, frozen yoghurt, juice etc. into the cup, then into your blender, then back to your cup - result is zero wastage and a fantastic quality smoothie. Margins are still good at around 80%. As a customer, I would question a smoothie made from anything other than real fruit.

 

[T-Rai]

Thank you everyone for your response. I'm sorry, I haven't been on in awhile to see what everyone has had to say. I am opening in a few weeks and so far am going with Big Train Tea blast and some of the powder. I'm just wishing to find a replacement for the IO ice cream. Do you think that a vanilla smoothie base powder will give almost the same effect?

 

[MontanaMama]

i used to use jet tea, but did not free pour. we all thought it was WAY too sweet to use even 3-4oz, which is what the average was if u free pour it. we used 2 oz per 16oz, and 2.5 for the 20oz. it made a pretty perfect smoothie, i might add but there was too much waste for some flavors that were not used as often as the biggest seller here, strawberry-banana.

Yep.....wwwwaaaaayyyyyy too sweet. :!:

Whats your recipe on the cut though? 16oz/2oz Jet Tea/??? ice/??? water/???something else

?????

 

[sketchy]

Hi all
We use only Jet smoothies but we found that we had to water it down.

Our mix is 12 oz cup ice
100ml water
100ml jet smoothie mix
our customers love it :grin:

LE

 

[kimbica]

IQF costs?

Hi everyone!

I am having trouble deciding what to do for smoothies in my shop, too. I'd love to use the frozen fruit with juice and yogurt or frozen yogurt, but I am wondering if anyone can help me figure out a cost estimate for this? Has anyone experimented and come up with a basic COG for using frozen fruit chunks and adding juice, ice, water, yogurt, etc/something similar? Tried the Dr. Smoothie all fruit formula (all fruit and concentrated juice) and found it just as sugary tasting as the others, though it had good flavor and tasted better when I added a little plain yogurt. I like the ease of using these aseptic concentrates, but they really don't taste as good as the real fruit smoothies I am used to having at home. I think the IQF is ranging from 1-3 dollars per pound, with berries higher than, say, mangoes. But how much does one use in a drink? Can anyone offer any guidance here? thanks!

Kim