Tropical Smoothie Café, the leading fast casual café known for its better-for-you food and smoothies with a tropical twist, announced the signing of 83 franchise agreements during the third quarter of 2015 as the brand continues its aggressive, nationwide expansion. To date, Tropical Smoothie Café has signed more than 160 development agreements. Additionally, the food and smoothie franchise reported it will open its first café in California in early 2016. Tropical Smoothie Café’s year-to-date same-store sales continue to eclipse 11 percent, well above the industry norm, and the company is currently celebrating 15 consecutive months of double-digit comp sale growth.
“I’m extremely proud of where we are today. Tropical Smoothie Café is on pace to not only meet, but also exceed the big goals we set for ourselves at the beginning of the year,” says Mike Rotondo, CEO of Tropical Smoothie Café. “Our exceptional product, passionate franchisees, and dedicated corporate staff are the driving force behind our success. And the success we are seeing is phenomenal, including strong same-store sales that far outperform our competitors in the smoothie and fast-casual industries. All of this is contributing to our franchise growth as more small business owners want to be part of Tropical Smoothie Café’s success.”
Tropical Smoothie Café currently has nearly 200 cafés under development and slated to open in the next two years. In 2015, the brand has opened 45 locations and is on pace to open 70 locations in cities like Forth Worth, Texas, Little Rock, Arkansas, Davenport, Florida, York, Pennsylvania, and Franklin, Tennessee, among others. The company’s goal to expand west will come to fruition within the next six months thanks to new franchisee RanaKaran “R.K.” Sidhu. Sidhu has recently become a franchise owner with Tropical Smoothie Café with agreements to open 20 Tropical Smoothie Café’s in the state, specifically 10 locations in Orange County and 10 locations in the Greater San Diego area.
“With Tropical Smoothie Cafe's amazing menu of food choices and smoothies, their constant need to innovate new limited-time offers, their new open-kitchen prototype, a development and marketing support staff that was always available, and personally meeting with CEO Mike Rotondo, who is full of bold fresh ideas, and honestly very inspiring, we knew it was the only way to go,” Sidhu says. “There was no one in Southern California offering a food and smoothie menu anywhere close to the variety, quality and price of Tropical Smoothie Cafe's. Healthy shouldn't be just for the wealthy, it should be for everyone who enjoys delicious food and wants to lead a better quality of life. Tropical Smoothie Cafe has always been a brand full of fresh new ideas, and California has always been a center for innovation and development, so bringing the two together seems so natural. We’re now focused on bringing delicious smoothies and food to the Orange and San Diego county communities beginning early next year.”
This year, the food and smoothie franchise plans to exceed 475 stores nationwide. The brand currently has franchise opportunities across the U.S. in markets such as Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio, Texas, as well as Los Angeles and San Francisco, among others. By 2018, Tropical Smoothie Café plans to have 800 stores open across the U.S.
