by Katie Stackable | Dec 30, 2015 | Blog
BY FAST CASUAL – Vitality Bowls, which specializes in açaí bowls topped with a variety of superfoods, is opening in Denver. The new franchise location will be the first for business partners Venkata Punati, Krishna Dhulipalla and Vikas Chintha who plan to open additional cafés in the Denver region, according to a company press release.
“From the first bite, I knew it was the start of a new journey for me,” said Venkata, a seasoned operator of fast food and retail businesses. “The incredible taste of the fresh ingredients and the feeling it provides is just an unbeatable combination.”
Slated to open on Jan. 22 in Denver’s heavily trafficked Cherry Creek Mall, the restaurant will be the first Vitality Bowls café in Colorado. It joins an additional 19 locations nationwide.
“Simply put, we’ve created an environment where our guests discover that eating healthy superfoods can taste great in a variety of ways,” said Tara Gilad, founder and owner of Vitality Bowls. “We look forward to seeing Venkata and general manager Jasmine Punati expand their business in Denver and share the Vitality Bowls movement with the community.”
Since launching in 2011 the brand has signed development deals for nearly 40 units, Gilad said.
by Katie Stackable | Dec 30, 2015 | Blog
BY SOUTH FLORIDA BUSINESS JOURNAL – A California franchise that serves mostly plant-based, organic dishes will put down roots on the East Coast with its first Florida location.
Vitality Bowls, which has eateries open in California,
Colorado, Indiana and Texas, will debut its first restaurant in the Sunshine State in February at 1119 5th Street in Miami Beach, the
chain’s co-founder Tara Gilad told the South Florida Business Journal.
“We look at Florida like California, where people are into fitness and living a healthy lifestyle,” Gilad said of her San Ramon, California-based franchise. “I think the communities out there are looking for more healthy options and I think we will fit right in with that.”
Vitality Bowls sells smoothies, raw juices, salads, soups, paninis and ac?ai bowls for breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert. The menu is mostly organic and touts no added sugars, fillers, trans fats, additives, preservatives or nitrates. The chain is especially sensitive to diners’ food allergies, Gilad said, having been founded out of the difficulty Tara and her husband Roy experienced trying to find healthy, allergy- conscious restaurants where their daughter, Ella, could eat.
“My daughter has severe food allergies and I want to bring safe food to all the people and kids who have food allergies as well,” Tara Gilad said.
Vitality Bowls has 40 locations in development across the U.S. and is seeking franchisees to develop another 20-30 locations in Florida. The chain already has two more stores debuting in Central Florida early next year, Tara Gilad said.
The initial investment to open a Vitality Bowls location ranges from $75,000 to $200,000, according to the brand’s website. Locations typically range from 800 square feet to 1,500 square feet.
Vitality Bowls’ 2,300-square-foot South Beach location will hire 20-26 workers. The store will serve its full menu, in addition to area-specific dishes and a full organic coffee bar with cold-pressed coffee and organic kombucha on tap.
Tara Gilad’s brand is among a growing number of fast-casual restaurant brands across the country seeking franchisees who want to open locations in Southeast Florida’s most densely populated neighborhoods. Across the U.S., the segment continues to grow much quicker than fast food and full-service brands. read more
by Katie Stackable | Dec 23, 2015 | Blog
BY THE MERCURY NEWS – Vitality Bowls, a franchise restaurant owned by Anu Krishnan and her husband Anil Nair, prides itself on serving up wholesome meals to those looking to escape the fast food lunch hour.
“I was basically a stay at home mom, and I’ve always been a big proponent of eating healthy and organic things,” says Krishnan, who also manages the store. “For me, this was something I could relate to very well because I’ve always fed my kids good food, and I always encouraged them to eat healthy.”
The restaurant opened in the Nineteen800 mixed-use property on Vallco Parkway last month. The menu consists of bowls packed with superfoods including camu camu, acai and pomegranate, with each bowl topped with a different selection of fruits, vegetables, nuts, granola or even bee pollen or honey. The menu also offers smoothies, juices, paninis and salads.
Krishnan says the shop has been a great fit for Cupertino so far.
“I think more people these days are transitioning into the healthy lifestyle, and I think the majority of people here are well educated,” she says. “When you are educated, you know more about what is good for your body. We felt that people would definitely lean toward healthy food.”
The couple did not expect to find themselves in the food industry.
“When we started looking at franchising options, we didn’t think about opening a restaurant, food was the last thing on our list, but when we heard about Vitality Bowls, this was such an elite option,” Krishnan says. “It made sense to me so we didn’t have any second thoughts, we knew this was going to be it.”
Nair came from the tech world, working as an industrial engineer, but he wanted to try his hand at entrepreneurship, especially with one daughter off at college and another daughter on her way to college next year.
“I wanted to do something on my own, but never got to. It’s priorities,” Nair says. “I wanted to get my financials in place and stabilize and all those things. It took so many years. We decided to do something together now that the kids are off to college, so we decided to look at some other options. Mutually, we agreed that this was the best thing for us.”
Getting the go-ahead from the franchisers and the city took about a year and a half, he adds. The shop is a cozy 1,100 square feet, and so far the couple have eight part-time employees.
The couple says they already have some customers that come in three to four times a week and know the owners by their first names. Business right now is good, but they are really looking forward to the opening of the Apple Campus 2 just up the street on Wolfe Road and further development at neighboring Main Street Cupertino to draw even more customers to the store.
Vitality Bowls is located at 19700 Vallco Parkway, Suite 160 and is open Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-8 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m.-8 p.m., and Sunday, 8 a.m.-7 p.m. read more
by Katie Stackable | Dec 15, 2015 | Blog
BY SAN JOSE FOOD BLOG – It’s 3 years later and I am just starting to see Acai gain momentum in the Bay Area. At the helm of this trend is
Vitality Bowls, a franchise offering not just food but a healthy lifestyle. There is a location in Cupertino in the same building as a new apartment complex across from Vallco mall. Parking is plenty here and the space is clean and modern.
The bowls come in Medium and Large sizes. They have a base of acai berries, the VB blend, then other fruits and toppings. The VB Blend contains the following frozen or powdered superfood mix:
Mangosteen,
Noni,
Camu Camu,
Moringa, Acai, Blueberry & Pomegranate. I linked to Wikipedia pages if you are curious about the fruits. There is no added sugar or preservatives. The bowls take on any flavor and sweetness from the fruits only.
We ordered a medium size of three different types of bowls and had each bowl split into two so we could taste test.
($8.99) Vitality Bowl – Açaí blended with VB Superfood Blend, Banana, Strawberries & Flax Seed; Topped with Granola, Bananas, Strawberries, Goji Berries & Honey
The Vitality Bowl is the classic and for a good reason. We liked this bowl the best out of the three. The acai blend was naturally sweet and went well with the fresh fruit and granola. Even though this was only half of a medium portion, it’s quite filling with all the toppings.
read more
by Katie Stackable | Dec 11, 2015 | Blog
BY THE FLORIDA TIMES-UNION – California-based superfood purveyor Vitality Bowls, specializing in Açaí Bowls, smoothies, fresh juices, soups, salads, and panini, is headed to Jacksonville.
It is finalizing plans with local franchise operators and a formal announcement is expected soon. read more
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