From a kitchen experiment to a thriving, international company, all developed from one purpose.  Smoothie King first introduced the nutritional fresh-blended smoothie in 1973 when founder Steve Kuhnau began experimenting with mixing real fruit, nutrients and proteins in a blender at home. Soon enough, his concoctions began to have a positive impact on his health, which spawned the creation of the first Smoothie King.

Launching Smoothie King Franchising

By 1989, Smoothie King became the first smoothie franchise in the United States. Since then, the brand has expanded its reign with each "Lifestyle Center" also offering healthy retail product solutions in sport beverages, energy bars, healthy snacks, vitamin supplements, herbs, minerals, and other sports nutrition products.

SK USA, Inc. Purchases Smoothie King

In July 2012, Smoothie King co-founders Steve and Cindy Kuhnau sold controlling interest of the Louisiana-based company to SK USA, Inc., headed by CEO Wan Kim, a successful franchisee with more than 100 stores throughout South Korea.

Smoothie King Ranked #1 by Entrepreneur Magazine

In 2016, Smoothie King was ranked the #1 Juice Bar Franchise on Entrepreneur Magazine's Annual Franchise 500 list - marking the 23rd year the brand has occupied the number one spot and #92 overall. The ranking is primarily based upon financial strength and stability, growth rate and size of system.  We are meeting with Chad Tramuta of Smoothie King. 

In part 2, we will discuss what every entrepreneur needs to know before buying a franchise.  We are going to play a clip from our popular Great Quotes in Franchising podcast.