MARKETING
TROPICAL SMOOTHIE CAFE WANTS TO TURN ON ITS MARKETING ENGINE
The smoothie chain that also sells food has had strong growth and customer value scores. Now it just needs to build brand awareness. It has a plan to do that.
BY JONATHAN MAZE
also slowed to less than 10%. System sales still grew 6.5%, more than the 3% average for the Top 500, but that is still below expectations for a brand that had done so well for so long. But Wetzel believes the chain has a lot more in the tank, thanks largely to the company’s brand awareness. Or lack thereof. Tropical Smoothie was founded as a beachfront fruit smoothie shop in Destin, Florida, in 1997, started its first franchise the next year and added food by 1999. More than a quarter-century later the chain remains an under-the-radar concept, even though it has 1,700 locations. Tropical Smoothie’s brand awareness remains below 25%, according to data from Technomic Ignite. That is remarkably low for a brand with that many units. Similarly sized chains average brand awareness of 44.6%, according to Technomic. A bit of marketing, in other words, could go a long way. And then the chain can let its customer satisfaction scores do the work. “It’s probably one of the biggest opportunities we have,” Wetzel said. “We’ve developed so quickly, because the economics are good within the system. We expanded so quickly. In some ways, it’s like our brand is catching up to that.” A year ago, Wetzel said, the company and franchisees agreed to consolidate their marketing budget. About 5% of the chain’s system sales now goes into marketing, which could provide some real firepower behind the drive to build awareness. The company brought in a new creative agency and since then the company’s awareness has improved.
PHOTO COURTESY OF TROPICAL SMOOTHIE CAFE
T ropical Smoothie for years has been one of the more underappreciated growth stories in the restaurant industry. Fron 2017 through 2024, the chain averaged 21% annual sales growth. Average- unit volumes increased almost annually, growing from $640,000 in 2016 to more than $1 million in 2024, despite double-digit annual growth in unit count. And yet that might not be the most impressive part about the chain. According to consumer data from Restaurant Business sister company Technomic, more than 93% of the chain’s customers rate their overall satisfaction with Tropical Smoothie either excellent or good. That is a remarkably high satisfaction rate, particularly given that more than 55% rate the brand “excellent.”
“We’re solving this problem,” Max Wetzel, the chain’s CEO, said in an interview. “Sometimes indulgence can be guilty. Sometimes indulgence can be extreme. Sometimes cravings can be a little clinical and too health-oriented. And we’re sitting right at the middle.” The sales performance and those satisfaction scores all played a role in the chain’s sale two years ago to the private- equity firm Blackstone, the same one that has an investment in the high-growth brand 7 Brew and which just bought Jersey Mike’s. Wetzel, the former chief executive of CKE Restaurants, was given the keys to the chain the next year. Yet Tropical Smoothie stumbled a bit last year. Average-unit volumes declined 4% in 2025, according to Technomic. Unit growth
26
RESTAURANT BUSINESS JULY 2026
Powered by FlippingBook