Lubbock Avalanche-Journal Lubbock Avalanche-Journal Lubbock’s restaurant offerings are about to get healthier this weekend with the expansion of Vitality Bowls. Molly Watters, owner and operator of Vitality Bowls at 2400 Glenna Goodacre Blvd., will open a second location on Friday, Nov. 18, at 10501 Quaker Ave. The business offers açaí bowls, smoothies, wraps, grain bowls, salads and other health foods. “As the owner of the existing successful Vitality Bowls café on the north side of the city, we know the demand for Vitality Bowls in the area and want to maximize our reach to new guests, and continue to provide healthy options for those in the community,” Waters said. “The café offers an array of options for everyone, including acai bowls, salads, toasts and more that people can feel good about eating. We know that our new location will solidify Vitality Bowls as a large part of the local food scene.” The Dragon Bowl, featuring pitaya, pineapple, coconut milk, goji berries and bee pollen. Green Bowl, with granola, strawberries, kale, dates, spirulina and hemp seeds. Vitality Bowl, with organic açaí, strawberries, banana, organic granola and honey. Vitality Wrap made with hummus, avocado, super greens, grains, roasted potato, radish, pickled red onion, lemon tahini vinaigrette, garlic aioli and superseed crunch, wrapped in a tomato basil tortilla. All menu items are prepared without ice, frozen yogurt, or artificial preservatives. “The Lubbock community knows that Vitality Bowls is the destination for delicious meals that make them feel good,” said Tara Gilad, founder and president of Vitality Bowls. “Molly has already shown that she is the perfect entrepreneur to continue to share the Vitality Bowls message with this community. We look forward to seeing Molly expand the reach of her business in Lubbock.” This will become the 12th Vitality Bowls in Texas for the California-based franchise. https://www.lubbockonline.com/story/business/2022/11/15/vitality-bowls-expands-to-second-lubbock-location/69641728007/
GREAT DAY COLORADO When we think of fall foods or drinks, we think of pumpkin spice lattes, right? Well, today we’re ditching all that sugar and creating a delicious and healthy pumpkin treat for the fall. GDC talked with Mariella Story from ‘Vitality Bowls’ in Boulder to learn more about how they put a healthy spin on all things pumpkin. To learn more, click here. https://kdvr.com/great-day-colorado/vitality-bowls-in-boulder-puts-a-healthy-spin-on-pumpkin-spice/
Cleveland.com Marc Bona BEREA, Ohio – Business partners Michael Todia and Susan DiMassa spent a lot of time mulling the right location for an eatery – eight to 10 years, in fact. Between their intent to offer healthy foods and what they deem a “perfect location” in Berea, “Everything just seemed to fall in place,” Todia said. They are planning to open a Vitality Bowls location close to Baldwin Wallace University in early 2023 and are scouting for a spot in Brecksville as well for the superfoods cafe. “Superfoods” are healthy, natural, high-nutrient, low-calorie foods. Todia sums their motivation in a clear way: “We’d rather pay the grocer than pay the doctor. And we firmly believe what you put in your body is very important for your immune system.” California-based Vitality Bowls is in 19 states with 145 open or in-development locations. Roy and Tara Gilad founded the company in 2011 and began franchising in 2014. Two are in Ohio – Rocky River and Pickerington, outside of Columbus Todia and DiMassa said the Gilads created Vitality Bowls because they wanted to find food their daughter with severe allergies could eat “without worry,” Todia said. They both said the concept is right for the area, a region they know well. Todia, who has worked in the chemical-paints industry for more than 30 years, is from Parma Heights. DiMassa grew up in Parma and is an accountant. They live in North Royalton. “Our location in Berea is perfect. It’s right across the street from Baldwin Wallace – 347 Front Street,” said Todia, who added it’s walking distance from the rec center and is situated between two student parking lots. The Berea space, which they own, will be about 1,380 square feet, including kitchen. A patio is planned. Inside seating can accommodate 20 to 22 people. “Brecksville is just another one of those communities that is health-conscious. I really have never seen anything fail in Brecksville,” he said. “Brecksville residents tend to support local business,” DiMassa said. “It’s just a good community.” The menu features nutritious alternatives to usual fast-casual offerings. It will emphasize acai bowls, smoothies, fresh juices, wraps, grain bowls, toasts, salads made with fruits and vegetables – “a lot of unique superfood groups,” he said. Acai bowls are made from a thick blend of the anti-oxidant rich berries, which come from the Amazon. The bowls are topped with granola and a variety of super foods, he said. “It’s good for you, it’s healthy, and it tastes really great,” Todia said. He added since the concept is aligned with healthy alternative dining, the kitchens are “designed to avoid cross contact of common food allergens.” Also, don’t expect “ingredient fillers” like ice, frozen yogurt and artificial preservatives. “We will not put Nutella on anything. … We tend to focus as close to the food as possible, the original intent of the food,” he said. He added: “You’re getting the purest taste of the acai berry or the other fruits as possible.” https://www.cleveland.com/entertainment/2022/11/vitality-bowls-superfoods-cafes-planned-for-berea-brecksville.html
Better-for-you concepts, which are typically straight-forward and easier operate, are back on development radars. During the height of the pandemic, sales at most established pizza franchises soared. Pizza was easy, and most of all, comforting, during a time of heightened stress. But as conditions stabilize, health-oriented franchises are bouncing back and expanding. Pizza sales hiked during COVID because many people stayed home, didn’t want to dine indoors, and the product arrived via delivery “hot and ready to eat,” says Liz Moskow, principal at Bread & Circus, a food advisory company based in Denver. An increasing number of customers worked from home and prepared their own lunches and dinners, which cut into the revenue at the healthier franchises, she says. When safety fears subsided, though, many people had put on weight, wanted to lose it, and started returning to dining at more nutritious-based chains. “Taking time for a healthy bowl or salad at lunch fits into the ‘self-care’ trend that people are adopting into their everyday lifestyle,” Moskow says. Moreover, franchisees left jobs that they felt trapped in, preferring to become entrepreneurs and run their own business. Smoothies and bowls, Moskow says, are mostly straightforward, “don’t require culinary prowess or training, and align with many people’s lifestyle choices.” Take Rush Bowls, which is dedicated to healthy fruit and vegetable bowls. It launched in 2004 and started franchising in 2016. It has grown to 37 locations, with 35 franchised and two company owned, covering 21 states. In 2022, as of publication, the brand debuted five new outlets with 10 slated to open by year’s end, all franchised. And in 2023, it has ambitions to add 25–50 retail stores. Andrew Pudalov, Rush Bowl’s CEO and founder, attributes its rapidly expanding franchising to the “rise in demand for healthy food within the [quick-service restaurant] space, as well as our smaller, more efficient store footprints.” His chain has capitalized on the delivery and takeout sector and technology, which now generates 30–60 percent of its revenue, depending on location. To become a franchisee at Rush Bowl “you don’t need to be a food connoisseur. We look for business experience and savvy,” says Pudalov, a former derivatives trader in New York City for 15 years. Its target audience is “young adults to people aged 50, who make Rush Bowls a part of their diet as opposed to the Subway sandwich model,” Pudalov adds. Its bowls are 16 ounces and about 500 calories, topped with granola or fruit. “Our busiest time is lunch,” he says. Four of its latest locations include Birmingham, Alabama; Metairie, Lousiana; and Naples and Gainesville, Florida. “A lot of these communities are ill-served with health food, and there’s not a lot of competition. When a health food restaurant moves in, people gravitate there,” Pudalov says. Rush Bowls specializes in bowls and smoothies, not salads or sandwiches, which differentiates it from competitors. Indeed, 80 percent of its business derives from bowls. Despite plans to add 25 new stores or more in 2023, Pudalov says he can avoid the traps of growing too fast because the company is privately owned, carries no debt, has taken zero private equity money, and plans to scale at its own pace. Locations are also rising at Vitality Bowls, which now has 130 outposts, seven corporate owned, and the rest franchised, in 19 states. In 2022, as of press time, it had already added eight stores with five more openings on tap for the remainder of the calendar. Its overall revenue spiked to $37.9 million in 2021 from $31.7 million in 2020. Vitality Bowls was launched in 2011 in San Ramon, California, by Roy and Tara Gilad, inspired by trying to find nutritious meals for their daughter who suffered from food allergies. Tara says its competitive edge is it doesn’t add sugar, frozen yogurt, sorbet, or any unhealthy fillers to smoothies and acai bowls. Tara, who is president and cofounder, says franchising is going well because, “being in the wellness category helps protect us from recession. We’re a more affluent ticket and people because of COVID are more focused on their health.” The fast casual’s ideal franchisee, Gilad says, is “a passionate, driven entrepreneur who is mentally strong and can build a positive culture in each location.” Then, “we help them figure out financially how they can open one or multiple locations.” The husband-and-wife team of Pam Vivio and Mijo Alanis started Beyond Juicery + Eatery in 2005, which has grown to 38 locations with 36 franchised and two company-owned. And it’s been expanding at a healthy clip, too, adding 14 franchised outlets in 2021, three in 2022, with plans for seven to 10 franchises in 2023. Mijo says the brand’s success stems from the way it “makes people feel good and not sluggish” compared to dining at most fast-food eateries. In 2022, it introduced new menu items that are going over well, such as a chicken Caesar wrap, and coming this fall is a warm grain bowl with chicken. Its target customers include mostly females aged 29 to 35 years old, who are often “ladies on the run and supermoms;” 15-to-22-year-old male and females; and people 45 and up who are aiming to be healthy. Before the pandemic, its stores were generally 2,000 square feet, but after cutting back on employees, it streamlined to 1,000–1,200 square feet. Ultimately, more Americans are focusing on “what they put into their body,” and that means healthier alternatives to pizza and cheeseburgers and fries, explaining why Beyond Juicery is growing, he says. https://www.qsrmagazine.com/franchising/health-focused-brands-welcome-spike-franchise-interest
Made a visit to Vitality Bowls new location in Cambridge, MA! Check them out today @vitalitybowls@vitalitybowlsboston thank you for the delicious food!
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