Article

Summertime sippers

Fruit-based drinks can create hot profits during the steamy summer months.

July 7, 2008

It only took a single summer for Ric Scicchitano, Corner Bakery CafÃ©'s senior vice president of food and beverage, to understand capitalizing on hot temperatures and tropical tastes.

In early 2007, Scicchitano had just completed a major overhaul of Corner Bakery's beverage menu of sodas and now was busy examining its frozen beverage menu, which he admits had been low on the list of priorities.At the time, Corner Bakery was offering made-to-order blended frozen coffee drinks that logistically were slow for both staff and consumers, and weren't driving revenue.

"We were selling maybe three or four a day (per location)," Scicchitano said. "We were coming off a big beverage program (and) frozen beverages are always hot in the summer. I said, â€˜Either we fix this or we kill it.'"

So that summer, Corner Bakery decided to offer two choices of frozen drinks: a coffee-based drink and a fruit-based drink. The frozen fruit-based beverage turned out to be more successful, so Corner Bakery extended that menu in time for the 2008 summer by incorporating pomegranate into its successful frozen lemonade.

The Dallas-based chain already has the seasonal beverage on its menu, although it won't start marketing the items until July, which kicks off the frozen-drink season, Scicchitano said.

Low cost makes frozen beverages attractive

Fast-casual operators and industry trend watchers say capitalizing on warm temperatures by adding seasonal beverages to the menu can heat up sales during the summer's cooling economy.

Frozen, "Slurpee-like" beverages are growing in fast-casual markets following the success of Starbucks' green tea and tangerine Frappuccino beverages, introduced approximately four years ago, said Maria Caranfa, director of Mintel Menu Insights, a flavor trend research firm based in Chicago.

Caranfa said summer brings "a lot more tropical flavors such as guava, passion fruit and pineapple" to the table. Additionally, combining out-of-the-ordinary flavors with "more familiar flavors" can create greater success for operators when trying a new seasonal item, she said.

"At anyplace that serves beverages, there's a growing trend to have seasonal beverages, from Panera to Dunkin' Donuts," Caranfa said. "In 2008, it's a growing way (for operators) to get customers in the door and in tough economic times it's an inexpensive way to promote the store and food and beverages."

The low cost of adding to its seasonal-beverage line was key to his implementing several more drinks, Scicchitano said.

"(Frozen beverages) are food-cost friendly," he said. "Everyone right now is worried about food commodity prices. Frozen beverages have a great margin and a great value. It's such a low-cost item, it doesn't matter if we throw it out."

According to statistics released by frozen-beverage industry leader Island Oasis, smoothie sales increased more than 100 percent between 2001 and 2006, and the current average price consumers are willing to pay for a smoothie is $2.59.

"Frozen drinks on menus make sense," said Barry Boehme, marketing vice president for Island Oasis.

Boehme, who calls summertime Island's "busy time," says most operators have some equipment already in place and "if not, we can provide on an as-needed basis."Island currently offers a specialized menu of both alcoholic and non-alcoholic mixes for operators.

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"We saw a lot of growth for frozen, blended beverages," said Paula Doyle, marketing vice president for Burlington, Vt.-based Bruegger's, which launched its new Brrrueggaccino product, a frozen blended coffee drink, May 8.

With this drink, Bruegger's saw an additional opportunity to increase its mid-morning and mid-afternoon crowd, Doyle said.

Marketing and promotions

In terms of marketing, visual promotions, presentation and sampling are extremely important to making seasonal beverages a success, Scicchitano said. Both Corner Bakery and Bruegger's conducted samplings in its locations to alert consumers to the new product.

And Caranfa agrees presentation is very important.

"It contributes to the emotion of the drink and the overall flavor profile of how the beverage is perceived," she said. "The more garnishes the better."

When Corner Bakery first tried the frozen fruit beverage last summer, operators blended a neutral sugar-based solution with fresh strawberries, which resulted in a brownish, light-red colored drink. That is why Scicchitano selected pomegranate for its vibrant natural color.

"Strawberry didn't work," he said. "Pomegranate has lots of color opportunities."

Once perfected, some operators may find special-beverage selections become such a hit, a permanent spot on the menu is a must.

John Kunkel, founder and CEO of Miami-based Lime Fresh Mexican Grill, said he wanted to have a different choice for his customers outside of the typical beer and wine he is permitted to sell. His "good-looking" sangria has been a hot menu item since day one, he said.

For that reason, Kunkel offers the restaurant's sangria year round.

"It's a ton of fun, and people are just addicted to it," he said. "We all struggle to have a varying drink selection. It's become one of our main sellers and one of the things we're known for."

Kunkel said he has customers driving to South Beach from Delray Beach, Fla., to get some of his sangria. And although he has thought about changing the item, he's not interested in fixing something that's not broken.

"With (the sangria's) crazy following, I didn't want to upset the masses," he said.