When Jamba chief brand officer Nathan Louer was first learning about the brand, he sought a lot of input from cofounder Linda Olds, who still owns 11 stores in California.
She told him that Jamba used to be known as “sunshine in a cup.” Louer found that to be impactful.
“Even if you didn’t even drink your smoothie, she said the way that the team made you feel, the smells, the sounds, it just brightened your day,” Louer says.
It’s the source of the chain’s new identity and DNA, “Sunshine in a Cup,” which rolled out last spring. The concept touches the mobile app, website, marketing and advertising, standard of operations in stores, training program, uniforms, swag, and in-store merchandising.
Louer says consumers should recognize a new Jamba. The final step is reinforcing it in shops nationwide, and the brand will do so through an updated prototype.
The design features the signature orange “Hello Sunshine” branding throughout, in addition to freestanding kiosks and clearly defined digital order pickup zones to boost convenience and reduce wait times. Additionally, Jamba continues to showcase an open kitchen so guests can witness the theater of preparation.
The layout has also thoughtfully placed “pause points” that encourage guests to further engage with products and brand messaging. For instance, clearly showcasing Jamba’s grab-and-go section and swag (i.e. tumblers, hats, T-shirts) so they’re in view of customers. Louer notes that if a customer buys a tumbler at most stores, they receive a free smoothie. However, most are off in the corner inside shops and guests aren’t aware of the promotion. Plus, tumblers are better for the environment.
As for Jamba’s ambient and cold products, the chain wants to get in the habit of encouraging food attachments.
“For the guests, I think it’s important that we base this upon the business that we’re building, which is more things paired together, create more meal occasions for Jamba as opposed to this singularity as a smoothie or a bowl,” Louer says.
The first round of prototypes should open sometime in the fourth quarter.
The ideation process involved selecting a design that could squeeze into 200 square feet (think gyms, health care, transit) but also flex into whatever box Jamba finds palatable—inline, endcap, or drive-thru.
“We have to really be cognizant of their margins and their working capital, especially in this high-cost capital environment to make these adjustments in their stores as we both remodel the system but also build that new,” Louer says. “I jokingly say it’s not like some of the prototypes you see. They’re just like wild and crazy and you’re like, man, is that ever going to be built or scaled to the system? This is a much more achievable and effective situation for us.”
It was also essential to create a path to remodel the system in a relatively cost-effective manner. Louer emphasizes that the new design is not only needed as a refresh, but also to create standardization across the system. Jamba has more than a dozen iterations in its footprint, creating a disconnect between stores.
The brand is incentivizing franchisees to join the program by offering reduced franchise, royalty and ad fees in the first three years. This offer is eligible for agreements executed before December 15.
“We’re willing to take a little bit of a hit now and sort of bet on this being a greater cash generator for them as soon as you open your doors and then it can along the way pay back some of that investment that the franchisees make,” Louer says. “So for me, it had to be very, very simple. Also we had to have some skin in the game, so we got to figure out how we’re more efficient with advertising dollars, do some different things to fill the ad fund up when we’re not having all of this income coming in. So for us, I think we’re having to think a little bit differently, but there needs to be some give and take with the franchisee system to really do what is right for the business long term. Frankly, for my franchisees, I want to be a good partner to them. And that door swings both ways I think with what you’re willing to do from an incentive program.”
Jamba finished 2024 with 727 U.S. locations, a net loss of seven year-over-year. It awarded 72 new stores and opened 49 last year. Traditional outlets (about 70 percent of the U.S. system) earned roughly $690,000 in average net sales, a decrease from about $720,000 in 2023, according to the brand’s FDD.
Louer doesn’t know exactly how much remodels will cost, but he does assure franchisees that parent company GoTo Foods will continue to use the power of its portfolio to negotiate expenses like lighting, refrigeration, and HVAC on behalf of Jamba and that the new design will improve their store-level economics.
Franchisees appear to be on board with the “Hello Sunshine” movement. When Jamba first introduced the branding at its conference last year, Louer says some operators were in tears, saying, “This is Jamba. This feels right for us.” This let him and his team know that the brand positioning they brought to life was going to work.
“Hello Sunshine” isn’t an empty promise to the consumer either. When Louer visits stores, he meets employees, managers, and owners that have tenure and care deeply about the brand. Each exudes “Hello Sunshine.” So do the new bowl packaging and iced beverages.
“I talked to some people in the building about “Hello Sunshine,” and they’re like, ‘That really seemed to be an inflection point,'” Louer says. “And I was like, it wasn’t an inflection point per se, but it allowed everything that we were doing to come together cohesively. And now this prototype is one of the building blocks to that. I couldn’t be more pleased with where we’re at. I couldn’t be more pleased with how it’s come together and how the system’s embracing it, and I think ultimately for the consumer, they will feel something different from Jamba. They will feel a new price point with the various items that we have. They will find value every single day at Jamba. And they’re going to be blown away by our products. That’s where we’re going, and I’m absolutely stoked to be on the journey.”
