by Katie Stackable | Jan 27, 2017 | Blog
BY NEWS 24/680 – With 2017 officially underway, more than 100 million Americans are currently working towards fulfilling their New Years resolutions. One local business decided to join the bandwagon. Its resolution? Improving the health and wellness of the Walnut Creek community in 2017.
Vitality Bowls in Walnut Creek has launched #FreshStart, an initiative to promote a healthy and fresh start to 2017 by empowering local residents to make simple, healthier choices – such as choosing to eat a more nutritious breakfast – to empower their ability to lead healthier mindsets and lives.
To demonstrate its commitment to building a healthier Walnut Creek in 2017, the superfood café will donate a portion of its January proceeds from its “Resolution Bowl” to Action for Healthy Kids, a nonprofit organization that supports schools’ efforts to boost physical activity and nutritious foods.
Vitality Bowls is also hosting a #FreshStart social media photo contest to encourage local residents to participate in the empowerment. Share a picture of your Resolution Bowl using #FreshStart for the chance to win a $100 gift card to Vitality Bowls! Enter here: http://bit.ly/2irDzVp
For more information, contact info@vitalitybowls.com.
by Katie Stackable | Jan 20, 2017 | Blog
BY KTVU-TV – They’re planning to open two cafes, Vitality Bowls in San Jose in memory of their son BJ who died from his allergy to peanuts.
Opening this cafe on Cottle Road was a dream that BJ shared with his parents. They wanted a family-owned business.
The teenager died eight years ago. Now, the Homs plan to open the first of their two cafes February 2nd.
“By doing this, it’s a way to honor my son and help him save other lives,” says Brain Hom, BJ’S father.
In 2008, BJ had just turned 18 and graduated from high school. The family was on vacation in Mexico. A short while after arriving, BJ ate a dessert that had peanuts in it.
His parents say his previous reactions had never been severe. He would suffer hives. This time, he had an anaphylactic reaction. It was deadly. He stopped breathing.
His parents say his previous reactions had never been severe. He would suffer hives. This time, he had an anaphylactic reaction. It was deadly. He stopped breathing.
“We were in shock. We didn’t know what to do,” says Brian.
Their youngest son Steven also suffers from a peanut allergy. The couple has turned their grief into action.
The Homs helped get federal and state legislation passed to prevent other families from losing a loved one to a food allergy.
“Losing a child a parent’s worst nightmare. You never think about burying your own kid,” says Brian.
The most recent legislation the couple worked on is a state law that went into effect January 1 allowing epinephrine to be stocked at restaurants and other public venues. The medication is injected.
The Homs hope to set an example by stocking the epinephrine in their cafe. Every customer will be asked whether they have a food allergy. If they do, their food will be prepared with separate appliances and utensils to prevent cross contamination.
Should anything unforeseen happen, the Homs have installed a special alarm system that has a special button to call for an ambulance and another for the fire department.
Kathy, Brian’s mom, says she copes with BJ’s loss by opening this cafe, cherishing the memory of his daily phone calls. read more
by Katie Stackable | Jan 18, 2017 | Blog
BY COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWS – Anita Etta will open Vitality Bowls Feb. 2 in Colleyville Town Center at 5615 Colleyville Blvd., Ste. 420, Colleyville. The restaurant will be the third in Texas and will specialize in acai bowls.
The superfood cafe will also offer fresh juices, organic soups, paninis and salads. 951-403-2550. http://vitalitybowls.com
by Katie Stackable | Jan 7, 2017 | Blog
BY RESTAURANT HOSPITALITY MAGAZINE – Tara Gilad, founder and chief operating officer of San Ramon, Calif.-based Vitality Bowls:
“In 2017, we’d like to enhance the customer engagement through loyalty programs and email campaigns, as well as improve the virtual experience with more efficient online ordering and delivery processing. We’d also like to increase catering business through community outreach and education.”
by Katie Stackable | Jan 5, 2017 | Blog
BY THE SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE – Joining locations in Chula Vista and Carlsbad is the latest Vitality Bowls Superfood Café in the UTC area. Organic antioxidant darling açaí berries are the base for multi-ingredient bowls that read like a nutritionist’s dream menu (flax, hemp and chia seeds, blueberries, Goji berries, broccoli, kale, almond milk, etc.). Ten kinds of smoothies and nine juices with names such The Powernator and The Detoxifier sound like vitality in a glass. 8935 Towne Centre Drive, La Jolla. (858) 412-4891 or vitalitybowls.com
by Katie Stackable | Jan 1, 2017 | Blog
BY RESTAURANT DEVELOPMENT AND DESIGN – Vitality Bowls offers franchise options to add lucrative coffee options.
If franchisees can’t or decline to install a full-blown coffee bar, Vitality Bowls has another way for them to benefit from specialty coffee sales: systems for serving cold-brewed coffee on tap. Photo courtesy of Vitality BowlsSeeking to claim their share of specialty coffee sales, many restaurant companies are buying espresso machines and adding a few premium coffee selections to their menus. Superfoods-focused Vitality Bowls, a 27-unit fast-casual concept with stores in Northern California, Atlanta, Miami, Colorado, Indiana, Texas and Nevada, went further. A little over a year ago, the brand added dedicated coffee bars to its prototype.
Uriah Blum, vice president of operations for the San Ramon, Calif.-based chain, says that given how competitive the coffee segment has become, his team knew that just adding coffee wouldn’t be enough. “We started in our flagship corporate store, and there’s a lot of coffee competition right on our street, so we wanted to do something nobody else was doing,” he says.
For Vitality Bowls, whose specialties include acai bowls, superfruit smoothies, cold-pressed juices, and healthful salads and sandwiches, that meant extending its core sensibilities to its coffee program. For starters, all of its coffee is organic, fair trade and non-GMO; almond, soy and coconut milk are offered; and sweeteners, used sparingly, are all natural and organic. Traditional espresso drinks are offered, but Blum went further to develop beverages that incorporate some of the chain’s signature ingredients. The result is a Superfood Coffee menu with selections such as Acai Latte, Superfood Mocha and a selection of organic teas.
Comprising roughly 150 square feet of space and positioned in the stores’ lobbies, the coffee bars are designed by the company’s in-house architect to be key front-of-house features. Franchisees are encouraged, but not required, to add them.
For those who don’t install the full coffee bar, a second option is available: organic cold-brewed coffee and kombucha on tap. Installed near the point-of-sale register, the cold-brew program merchandises itself, Blum says, and enables employees to provide samples while customers place their orders.
“It’s up to the franchisee, but it also depends on location and, in some cases, what’s already in the surrounding area,” Blum says of the full coffee bar feature. “Some developments have an existing coffee concept that has exclusivity, so we can’t add it even if we want to. It also depends on infrastructure. Adding the full bar requires plumbing, water, drainage, etc., which may be cost-prohibitive. The tap system is a good option in such cases.”
So far, seven Vitality Bowl locations feature the full coffee bar, and Blum says response has been positive. “We now get people who might have come in to pick up an acai bowl or something for breakfast and then are headed someplace else to grab coffee,” he says. “Having our own unique coffee program makes us more of a one-stop shop. We just have to make sure the product is consistently great. There are a lot of coffee snobs out there now. If they try us once and we don’t deliver, they won’t try us again.”
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