Franchise group acquires 32 Jamba Juice units in Hawaii

The owners of a Jack in the Box franchise group in Hawaii said last week that it has acquired most of the state’s licensed Jamba Juice locations.

Blue Pacific Juice LLC, which is owned by Honolulu-based Scanlan Management LLC, acquired JJC Hawaii, which holds the licensing agreement to operate Jamba Juice locations on the islands.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

JJC Hawaii was sold by investment group Café Hawaii Partners, which brought the Jamba Juice brand to the state in 1999 and grew the operation to 32 stores.

Dean McPhail, Café Hawaii Partners’ chief executive, said the company is known for introducing new brands to the islands and “building great teams.” The group also brought the Starbucks brand to Hawaii in 1996 and in 2006 sold the units to the corporate operator of the coffeehouse chain.

McPhail said the time was right to sell the Jamba Juice operation, saying the smoothie brand is doing better than ever and is “ready to fly.”

Café Hawaii Partners is now actively looking for another brand to bring to the islands, he said. “We’d like to stay in the healthy category, but it doesn’t necessarily have to be food.”

The company also operates a P.F. Chang’s China Bistro location in Hawaii.

Scanlan Management also operates 27 Jack in the Box locations in the state, and is a former franchisee of the Burger King, KFC and Pizza Hut brands there.

Chris Scanlan, partner in Scanlan Management, said in a statement, “We’ve been fans of Jamba Juice for nearly a decade, and we’re thrilled to add Jamba to our portfolio of brands. We believe there is tremendous potential to continue to grow the Jamba brand in Hawaii and build upon the strong brand that is created.”

Contact Lisa Jennings at [email protected].
Follow her on Twitter: @livetodineout