Red Mango is rolling out a line of smoothies in an effort to differentiate itself in the increasingly crowded frozen yogurt market and to compete with big smoothie chains like Jamba Juice.
The 71-unit chain is changing its signage to “Red Mango Yogurt & Smoothies” to reflect the addition of more than 20 smoothie flavors and iced tea-yogurt chillers, said company founder Daniel J. Kim. The new drinks will be added to stores on June 29, with an official debut set for July 4.
“It’s really a fundamental shift of how we are defining ourselves in the business, away from the frozen-yogurt shop and really one that sells yogurt and yogurt-based products and smoothies,” said Kim, who is also Red Mango’s president and chief executive.
The smoothies have been in test since spring at units in Allen, Texas; Long Island, N.Y.; Palo Alto, Calif.; and Seattle.
The smoothies are made with Red Mango's tart frozen yogurt, and flavors include strawberry-banana, pomegranate and mango. The chain also will offer "power smoothies" made with protein powder, immunity boosts, energy vitamins, antioxidants and calcium with vitamin D. In addition, Red Mango has expanded its line of tea slushes and tea-yogurt chiller blends, Kim said.
Prices for the regular smoothies vary by location and range from $3.95 to $4.45 for 16 ounces and from $4.95 to $5.45 for 24 ounces. Power smoothies range from $4.45 to $4.95 for 16 ounces and $5.45 to $5.95 for 24 ounces. Additional protein, vitamin, energy and probiotic boosts are 65 cents each.
While the smoothie segment has suffered during the economic downturn, wellness messages are playing well with consumers, said Dan Titus, an industry consultant and director of the Juice and Smoothie Association.
"Health is here to stay," he said. "We see the most iteration of frozen yogurt easily folded into a healthy menu concept. In fact, we encourage our clients to include frozen tart yogurt to feather out their offerings since they already have the ingredients in inventory anyway."
Kim said 70 percent of Red Mango’s core users are women 18 to 36 years old who are health-conscious.
“Smoothies are also female-skewed, but it has been sustained by people who are fit and work out a lot,” he said. “More men are embracing it. We’re not out there trying to go out there and get a new base of customers, we’re trying make the brand and the product more relevant to more people.”
Red Mango said it keeps calories down in its smoothies by using stevia for sweetening and using only fresh fruit for its berries, pineapple and bananas.
The smoothies are also intended to extend Red Mango’s busiest dayparts, which are currently the 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. snack period and the 8 p.m. to midnight after-dinner period.
Kim sees smoothies bolstering the 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. period, emulating the success of Red Mango’s fruit-yogurt-granola parfait introduction and “Rethink Lunch” campaign in February, which boosted lunch traffic by 50 percent.
The cost of the retrofitting existing Red Mango units with the equipment to serve smoothies ranges from $1,000 to $10,000, depending on the store, Kim said, with some units requiring larger ice machines, smoothie-building stations and additional blenders.
“The addition of our smoothie line will not necessarily increase the cost of future build-outs, because all stores have been designed with our smoothie program in mind,” Kim said.
Kim said Red Mango's build-out costs are between $240,000 and $437,000 for a traditional full-serve unit; $195,000 to $287,000 for non-traditional and kiosk units; and $282,000 to $497,000 for a self-serve store.
Contact Ron Ruggless at [email protected].