Tropical Smoothie Café unveiled significant changes to its menu, including a variety of new food and beverage items, reformulated recipes, the addition of Grilled Flatbreads as a permanent offering, and a new tropical look.

The new menu debuts this month in all 280 Tropical Smoothie Cafés throughout the U.S. and culminates an 18-month long development process that involved input from focus groups, restaurant vendors, and Tropical Smoothie Café area developers and franchisees. “Our customers told what they loved about Tropical Smoothie Café and where we needed to improve,” says Jim Valentino, president and COO of the tropical-themed smoothie and sandwich restaurant chain. “We took that information and formed a task force including many of our strategic partners to improve our menu offerings, value engineer costs, and develop a new look.”

One of the goals was to make the menu more intuitive and easy to navigate. “The look of the new menu is very enticing with mouth-watering photos of the food and vibrant, tropical colors that are the perfect fit for our concept,” says Barbara Valentino, vice president of marketing and communications.

One of Tropical Smoothie Café’s goals was to achieve operational- and cost-efficiency by ensuring that each menu ingredient had at least two functions. For example, guacamole had been used only in the Turkey Guacamole Sandwich. Starting today, guacamole will be used in new menu items as well.

Grilled Flatbreads, offered before as LTOs, now are a permanent part of the menu and include the new Chicken Pesto Flatbread.

The Kids’ Menu also has changed. For the first time, Tropical Smoothie Café is offering Kids Combo Choices, including the Lil’ Surfer Combo (food item, side, and 12-ounce soda), and the Big Kahuna Combo (food item, side, and 12-ounce kid smoothie). New food items on the kids’ menu include Cheese Pizza, Banana Mania Smoothie, and a Kid Flatbread, which comes in three varieties: Ham & American Cheese, Turkey & Provolone, and Grilled Cheese.

“Whether it’s our new menu items or old favorites, our guests can expect nothing but the highest-quality dining experience for the price,” Valentino says. “We want to be true to our vision as a company and continue to strive to be the consumer’s No. 1 choice for a higher-quality, healthier way of life. We feel with this menu change we will better support ‘Eat Better, Feel Better’ and will offer the menu items that our customers crave the most at a competitive price point.”