Operations

Smoothie King CEO appearing on 'Undercover Boss'

With a disguise that included shoulder-length hair, a Van Dyke-style beard, a Hawaiian shirt, black chinos and checkered Vans, Smoothie King CEO Wan Kim got a full view of what his employees experience when he filmed an episode of "Undercover Boss."

October 20, 2020

"Being able to wear a disguise was an invaluable experience," Kim said in a company press release. "Getting a first-hand look at what our guests see and what our team members do on a daily basis provided an incredibly moving, humbling and eye-opening perspective."

Kim went undercover at five locations, performing front-of-house tasks like manning the cash register, making smoothies, scrubbing the floors, prepping the work stations and taking drive-thru orders. It wasn't an experience Kim was completely new to, though. After all, he started at Smoothie King as a franchisee, opening the brand's first international location in South Korea in 2003 before opening an additional 120 locations there and eventually becoming CEO.

"It gave me a whole new appreciation for how hard our employees work to reflect our mission and vision," Kim said. "One of the main reasons I wanted to be on this show was because we had recently finished rolling out our Clean Blends menu systemwide, and I wanted to see for myself how our employees were adjusting to the new operational procedures and how guests were responding to the healthier options."

Smoothie King Franchises is a privately held, Dallas-based franchise company with 1,200 units worldwide.

Operations