Juicing, smoothies, and raw diets are becoming more and more popular as people become more health conscious, and businesses are taking note. Smoothie stands and juice bars are popping up all over the country, and even established restaurants are starting to cash in on the craze. Fresh fruit and vegetable based offerings can be a great way to increase revenue, however, there are several distinct advantages and disadvantages of offering fresh squeezed juice and smoothies:
Health Benefits
Both fresh juice and smoothies offer a plethora of vitamins and minerals, but smoothies are a “healthier” option. Freshly made juice filters out pulp and other waste from fruit and vegetables, and in the process, some of the nutrients as well. Smoothies don’t separate out these pieces, and though they tend to contain more calories, are a more complete raw food.
Smoothies Require Liquid
To properly blend a fruit smoothie, there must be liquid present. Many smoothie stands offer smoothies with a number of different liquid bases (such as kefir, green tea or water), however, the most popular is by far fruit juice. Often times, businesses that intended on making smoothies also purchase juicers to make the bases for smoothies. Purchasing a juicer allows business owners to save in the long run purchasing pre-packaged juice for their smoothies, and allow them to offer fresh squeezed juice as a menu item as well.
Cleaning
Both blenders and juicers must be cleaned after each use for sanitation and allergen purposes. There are a number of commercial blender rinsing stations on the market (most all commercial blender manufacturers offer at least one model rinsing station), and cleaning a blender jar can be done in a matter of moments. Juicers, however, have far more parts than a blender station, and can be more painstaking to clean. Juicers must be disassembled, and each part rinsed individually for proper cleaning. Though there are some instances that they can be used without a rinse (for example, if four orders came in with the same juice variety on them), but, for the most part, juicers must be cleaned to prevent any unwanted flavors or residual juices from making their way into the next batch.
Prep Time
One big advantage that commercial juicers have over smoothie blenders is fruit and vegetable prep time. All juicers, be they citrus juicers or all purpose juice extractors, can discard peels and separate pulp from juice. Smoothie blenders, however, can only be used with prepared fruits and vegetables, as there is no way to separate rinds from the finished product. Juicers require far less prep time, and some shops opt to cut fruit just before it enters a juicer to limit the amount of prepared fruit that can go to waste.
