Tropical Smoothie Cafe

What's next for smoothies and juices?

By Kathleen Squires on Nov. 12, 2015

Blending vegetables into traditionally fruit-forward beverages has proven to be a winning sales strategy at juice bars, smoothie chains and restaurants.

Officials tie hepatitis A to Egyptian strawberries

By Peter Romeo on Aug. 22, 2016

Virgina's health department say the frozen berries sickened patrons of the Tropical Smoothie Cafe chain.

2017 Top 500: Specialty LSR

By Restaurant Business Staff on Jun. 08, 2017

Together, the specialty LSR category increased sales by 8.6%, to $6.9 billion, and units by 5.2%, to 11,070.

Consumer Trends

Which chains are best at ‘healthy’

By Technomic on Aug. 22, 2017

Diners rated these chains as tops when it comes to healthful options.

Financing

Smoothies

By Thomas Henry Strenk on Feb. 01, 2011

Like other aspects of the industry, the smoothie segment has been impacted by the economy.

Franchising’s new headaches

By Sam Smith on Feb. 09, 2015

A game-changing decision is just one of the challenges poking at the franchisee-franchisor relationship.

2016 Top 500 restaurant chains

Jun. 21, 2016

More than half of the restaurant industry’s $491 billion in sales come from the Top 500 chains. And these giants grew at a modestly stronger rate, both in terms of sales and store counts, than the industry overall. Restaurant Business focused on the leading 250 performers to identify trends for our first-ever special report delivering lessons from Technomic’s annual Top 500 Chain Restaurant Report. This special package includes lessons for all operators from the largest chains by segment, menu category and more.

Technology

Restaurant Business tests chain apps

By Sara Rush Wirth and Benita Gingerella on Oct. 30, 2016

With most chains trying to score valuable real estate on their customers’ phones, the Restaurant Business team took a look at 25 restaurant apps to see what’s working—and what’s not.