One of the trends in the health club industry is including a juice bar design into new and existing fitness concepts. Health club owners are realizing that by adding a juice bar design into their clubs, they are adding an entirely new revenue steam to their bottom line that was primarily relegated to membership fees and personal training sales.
As with people who frequent coffee shops, as mentioned in our post “Coffee Shop Design,” many who visit health clubs see fitness as a lifestyle and as such, include their visit to the club as part of their daily ritual and tend to make more health-conscious choices when it comes to what they eat and drink… Enter the convenience of adding a juice bar design to a health club concept.
A juice bar design is relatively simplistic in concept and many times are added as an additional offering to a coffee shop design, but the equipment selection can vary greatly depending on the ingredients used. The original juice bar did literally that, juice a mixture of fruits and vegetables by using a juicer or extractor of some form, giving the customer only the liquid component of the ingredients used. In the early seventies and eighties, this approach was touted as being a simple and healthy way to add more fruit and vegetables into the “Standard American Diet.” I’m hoping the acronym for that phrase isn’t lost on you, but that is a conversation for another time.
One of the key issues with the original juice bar approach is the excessive waste of the fruit and vegetable “solids” that are left behind after juicing. Sadly, this discarded component as we now know, are in fact, healthiest part of the fruit and vegetable since it contains all the fiber and minerals that help keep us full and satisfied.
Today, a juice bar design accommodates for the complete use of the entire fruit and vegetables offered. From kale, carrots and beets, to apples, grapes and berries, the entire fruit and vegetable is simply puréed in a high-powered blender with some ice and liquid medium such as almond or soy milk, to create a nutritionally sound beverage offering. Many clubs also offer add-ins such as protein powders and various nutritional supplements to increase the advertised healthfulness of the drink and subsequently increasing the sale per person ratio. When implemented properly, with recipes followed to the letter, juice bar type offerings can average a cost of goods sold of as little as 25%, and with an average sale of say $7, that’s an average margin of $5.25 per drink. Sell only 10 per day, and over the course of a year, that’s almost an extra $20k straight to the bottom line.
Adding a juice bar design into a health or fitness club concept is a reasonably inexpensive way to provide added value to your membership by providing the convenience of obtaining quality nutrition as they start their day after their workout. Integrated properly, there should be no added staffing expense, only the much sought after profit to the balance sheet and ultimately, healthier members who will see faster results and visit your club more frequently.
As the former Corporate Executive Chef for a health club development and management company, as well as being the former Director of Design & Development of a national juice bar company, Mise Designs has extensive experience in designing, developing and operating juice bar concepts so feel free to contact us to find out how you can easily add this valuable offering to your club.
Cheers!