From left to right: Ross C., Candice M., Amanda H., Rebecca P., Christina G., Richard C., Jennifer V., and Sam L.

Dr. Smoothie Brands originally came on board with Houston’s in June 2011, starting with approximately 50 different smoothie and frappe mixes. Over the past six and half years, our relationship with Dr. Smoothie Brands has blossomed, and they have quickly become one of Houston’s top vendors. “Dr. Smoothie has become one of our lead-in vendors that gets our sales team in the door with prospective customers,” says Rebecca Phillips, Executive Vice President, “customers know the brand name, and they want the products.”

Dr. Smoothie Brands was purchased by Chicago-based Bevolution Group in late 2016. Taking the opportunity to introduce new management teams for both Houston’s and Bevolution Group, members of our team ventured down to Fullerton, California to visit one of three Bevolution locations. With plants also located in Chicago, Illinois and Frostproof, Florida; the Fullerton plant is where both Dr. Smoothie and Café Essentials products are manufactured and warehoused.

After an introduction to Bevolution Group by CEO Sam Lteif and VP of Sales Richard Crabill, we were given a behind-the-scenes tour of the plant. (For confidentiality purposes, photos weren’t allowed to be taken on the plant floor.) The overall process is extremely efficient, maximizing the production time for both liquid smoothie concentrates and powdered beverage mixes. The ingredients for the liquid smoothie concentrates are mixed onsite in large vats before being hot-packed into clear plastic bottles, and then slowly cooled under streams of chilled water for 45 minutes. Once the bottles are cooled (but still warm to the touch), they are labeled, boxed, and palletized for shipment or storage.

Café Essentials powdered beverage mixes are manufactured by a team of no more than 6 people at a single time, further emphasizing the necessary efficiencies. Again, ingredients are mixed onsite before being dumped into a large hopper than filters, mixes, and dispenses the appropriate amount of product into each package.

THE PRODUCT

Houston’s carries a variety of products from Dr. Smoothie Brands including Classic Smoothie concentrates, 100% Crushed Fruit Smoothie concentrates, Café Essentials frappe and warm beverage mixes, as well as a variety of add-ins and supplements which are not currently manufactured at the Fullerton facility. Dr. Smoothie equates their Classic Smoothie line to other competitive smoothie brands, while positioning 100% Crushed as the all-natural, premium line.

After Bevolution Group acquired Dr. Smoothie Brands last year, Houston’s brought in products from the Tropics Refreshers brand line, also owned by Bevolution. After a soft, off-season introduction, Houston’s and Bevolution have collaborated on a new plan to reintroduce the line in 2018 in conjunction with Coffee Fest and the SCA Global Expo. Often compared to Starbucks’s beverage of the same name, Tropics Refreshers are “handcrafted with a fruit flavored twist that get a little extra oomph from green bean coffee extract,” and the perfect natural, clean-label alternative to other caffeinated beverages. Available in Citrus Mint, Strawberry Acai, and Wildberry, there is sure to be a flavor to suit any pallet.

ABOUT BEVOLUTION

Bevolution’s mission is “setting a standard focused on creating the right culture and putting customers first,” which aligns well with Houston’s focus on customer service and enhancing our internal culture. Bevolution touts themselves as “small enough to be nimble, yet large enough to have scale.” Does that sound familiar?

The company is comprised of four foodservice/beverage industry leaders: Juice Tyme, Lemon-X, Tropics, and Dr. Smoothie Brands. Founded with the purchase of Juice Tyme in 2013, Lteif describes Bevolution as “a fresh thinking company, offering the highest quality beverages, fortified with honesty, innovation, and savvy business growth.” This shows in the organizations continued expansion. Bevolution also acquired Lemon-X (2014) and Tropics (2015) all before bringing Dr. Smoothie Brands on board in 2016. That same year, Bevolution also introduced a new brand of bag-in-a-box beverages, Refrasia, targeting the healthcare industry.

Targeting primarily the specialty coffee and healthcare industries, Bevolution is committed to working with Houston’s to meet the needs of foodservice industry dealers and distributors nationwide.

We look forward to helping Bevolution develop their brands by assisting in nationwide availability and decreasing lead-time to our mutual customers. Keep any eye out for more information on Tropics Refreshers, coming in Spring 2018