Blenderz from NextBrands looks to break into the market whitespaces for açaí concepts.
Blenderz, a new acai concept from NextBrands, is making the move toward franchising. The brand is looking at traditional and nontraditional growth in its efforts to become a fixture in underserved communities.
“Three years ago, our founder and CEO, who also happens to be my father, wanted to get into the franchising world,” said Megan Rosen, chief development officer. “He saw the need for these acai bowl concepts to expand into different markets.”
NextBrands is a business development company founded by Mitch Rosen. It assists entrepreneurs in nearly every aspect of owning a business, whether growth, real estate or design. Rosen was looking to create his own franchise and decided on acai.
At first, the plan was to either invest in or buy up an acai concept for a rebrand. Things didn’t go according to plan though, so NextBrands made its own acai concept. Connecting with Austin Capoferi, president of NextBrands, Rosen and the team got to working on developing what would eventually become Blenderz.
Capoferi joined NextBrands in December 2021, and he grew up with Hungry Howie’s Pizza because his parents were franchisees. He’s also worked with Burger King and Subway as part of their development teams.
Blenderz has unveiled their first modular concept which is a shipping container.
“I was basically tasked with Megan to come up with everything for a smoothie and acai brand,” said Capoferi. “From logo to tagline to recipes. Everything you can think of, Megan and I came up with.”
The reason the team was confident with its choice of brand was because of the market white space. Acai concepts tend to gravitate toward areas with a higher cost of living. Blenderz wants to break out in low-cost-of-living communities, bringing acai bowls to areas where people vacation or work.
“You’ll see a lot of these smoothie and acai bowl stores in A-Level markets, like high cost of living, lots of population,” said Rosen. “We’re looking to bring these healthier options to smaller communities.”
The brand is unique among other acai concepts, with paninis offered as well as smoothies. The flagship store was opened in July 2022 in Royal Oak, Michigan. Since opening, more locations have opened and the brand is even unveiling a new modular concept which is scheduled to be opened in Mio, Michigan, this month.
“It’s a really cool concept that allows investors to get in at a lower investment and a faster development time and requires a lot lower labor cost than a traditional brick and mortar,” said Rosen.
Blenderz doesn’t just serve smoothies. The brand also has a variety of wraps and paninis for customers to enjoy.
The new prototype uses shipping containers, an idea several brands have been testing lately. The team chose this method because it saw a sizable increase in drive-thru sales at its other restaurant concepts, Capoferi said.
Related: Restaurants Turn to New Prototypes to Stay Competitive and Drive Sales
With the current success, NextBrands is strengthening its franchising efforts with Blenderz. The ideal franchisees for Rosen are entrepreneurs looking to start out their first business.
“We’re looking for people who want to be owner/operators and really want to get into a brand,” said Rosen. “That family who is sick of the dad working 9-5 and the mom working part time and they want to do something together. Those are the types of people we’re looking for.”
To find those franchisees, the Blenderz team is attending several franchisee conferences to speak with prospective entrepreneurs directly.
The initial investment for a Blenderz depends on the type of build out. For a conversion, the range is $166,000 to $299,000 and the modular is $270,000 to $463,000, Rosen said. The average unit volume for a brick-and-mortar location ranges from $400,000 to $650,000, while a modular is $350,000 to $600,000, said Capoferi.
“It’s pretty cool to see our vision coming to life,” said Capoferi. “Not only was it our vision that we got, but the founder’s vision as well.”