Ad Track: Starbucks brings new fruit smoothie to the table
— -- It may be tough to sell a $4 cup o' joe in a sour economy, but Starbucks (and other fast-food kingpins) are betting big this summer that folks will willingly fork out nearly that much for healthy-sounding fruit smoothies.
"This quality and transparency is not something you'll get at a fast-food joint," says Rob Grady, Starbucks' beverage vice president. "It's a new platform for us."
Smoothies are not new to consumers. What's new is fast food's sudden interest in them. A big chunk of the industry is just now jumping onto the $2.4 billion smoothie train.
Ready-to-eat smoothie sales are up 139% since 2002 and could pass $4 billion by 2012, according to a new study from Mintel, a research specialist. Made-to-order smoothie sales — sold at fast-food and juice chains — will jump to more than $2.5 billion this year compared with $989 million in 2002, Mintel projects.
Fast-food chains hope to not only profit from smoothies, but also get an image lift from them, says David Morris, research chief at Mintel.
"Smoothies have a health halo attached," Morris says. "That could help combat criticism for Frappuccinos that are almost 1,000 calories."
(For the record, Starbucks' large Double Chocolaty Chip Frappuccino Blended Crème actually weighs in at 670 calories.)
Even then, most smoothies are loaded with more than fruit, warns Marion Nestle, professor of nutrition at New York University.
"They've got calories, and lots of them," Nestle says. "Smoothies give the illusion of health. You don't think there are many calories in something that calls itself a blueberry pomegranate smoothie, but you can bet there are."
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