--- title: "Fruit-based drinks are everywhere, but Juice It Up keeps growing" url: https://burnaze.com/article/3d69b73c-1b22-4250-924a-dcb7012787f4 source: "Nation's Restaurant News" original_url: https://www.nrn.com/beverage-trends/fruit-based-drinks-are-everywhere-but-juice-it-up-keeps-growing author: "Lisa Jennings" category: "Beverage & juice" industry: "Restaurants" segment: "Beverage & juice" published: 2026-05-04T22:47:02.000Z modified: 2026-10-31T13:17:22.929Z image: https://eu-images.contentstack.com/v3/assets/bltea7aee2fca050a19/bltb98fda13465b1f41/69f9226a6733f71be938b2a5/JuiceItUp.jpg?width=1280&auto=webp&quality=80&disable=upscale --- # Fruit-based drinks are everywhere, but Juice It Up keeps growing **TL;DR:** Juice It Up, a juice and smoothie chain, reported a 9% sales increase in 2024, outperforming larger competitors, with sales reaching $54.5 million and average unit volume growing 50% since 2020. The chain, led by President and CEO Susan Taylor, plans to expand its footprint, aiming to double its units to 200 within five years. *By Lisa Jennings, originally published in Nation's Restaurant News on 2026-05-04. [Read the original](https://www.nrn.com/beverage-trends/fruit-based-drinks-are-everywhere-but-juice-it-up-keeps-growing).* ## Key facts - Juice It Up sales up 9% to $54.5 million - Average unit volume grew 50% since 2020 - Transactions up 13% in the first quarter ## Story In a world where people are buying a lot more drinks from a lot more places, one would expect juice and smoothie players would be forced to give up market share. Not so for Irvine, California-based Juice It Up, which last year was among the fastest growing of the juice and smoothie concepts, with sales up more than 9% to $54.5 million. ## Market growth trends It’s one of the smaller of the national juice chains, ending 2025 with 99 units, a 6.5% increase. In terms of footprint, Juice It Up pales in comparison to 1,660-unit Tropical Smoothie Café and 1,242-unit Smoothie King. Both also grew sales last year by 6.5% and 3.6%, respectively. But Juice It Up isn’t just competing with other juice concepts, notes President and CEO Susan Taylor. Fruit-based drinks are everywhere, including the rapidly growing drive-thru concepts Dutch Bros and 7 Brew. And Juice It Up is more than 30 years old, an almost-entirely franchised brand that operates mostly in California. ## Sales and unit growth That’s why it’s particularly noteworthy that Juice It Up has grown its average unit volume by nearly 50% since Taylor took the helm in 2020 to $595,000. Taylor attributes part of that sales growth to shifts to digital sales, and growing the brand’s presence on third-party marketplaces. There more guests are discovering the chain’s smoothies, juices and acai bowls, as well as the more recently introduced line of toast with various toppings and pretzel bites. Because it’s just being discovered, many refer see Juice It Up as an up-and-coming brand, said Taylor. But really, the more recent trend of snacking is what is fueling the brand’s rediscovery. And protein. Like so many brands, Juice It Up has emphasized protein on the menu. A top seller is The Zone, a peanut butter-banana affair with yogurt and protein powder that in the first quarter accounted for 9% of sales, said Taylor. But don’t accuse Juice It Up of jumping on the protein bandwagon. The Zone has actually been around “forever,” said Taylor, but a line extension last year captured attention and the smoothie sold like gangbusters, she said. With transactions up 13% in the first quarter, she said, “I lay awake at night and wonder how I’m going to roll over that next year. But it just blew up and we saw repeat frequency.” Earlier this year, Juice It Up launched new smoothies made with high-in-protein Chobani no-sugar Greek yogurt, which are now mixing at about 10% of sales, she said. Now Juice It Up is testing more additions to the food side as possible attachments, like protein boxes, and chia pudding snacks. ## Expansion plans Juice It Up has 100 units open, and Taylor expects to see eight to 10 more open in 2026. Next year, that pace will accelerate to 20, she said. And within five years she hopes to hit the 200 mark, doubling in footprint. Juice It Up is owned by SJB Brands LLC, a partnership of California-based investment firms Dover Shores Capital LLC, Britt Private Capital LLC and Jupiter Holdings LLC. The juice chain is led by Chris Britt and Ed St. Geme, two former Burger King franchisees, who Taylor said are very involved. The two also own Mountain Mike’s Pizza LLC, based in Newport Beach, California, but there is no crossover between the two chains, said Taylor. For Juice It Up, the challenge will be maintaining momentum. Smoothies in California cost roughly the same as a gallon of gas, which was averaging about $6.10 this week. Taylor worries that lingering high gas prices could force some consumers to forgo their smoothie habits. But it hasn’t happened yet. In April, Taylor said Juice It Up’s same-store sales were up 8% over the prior year, up 20% on a two-year basis, and up 24% over three years. “We’re not looking to change the brand, or change why people actually love it,” said Taylor. “But I think we’ve done a really nice job of updating and bringing people along without making people think that it’s this old, 30-year-old brand, that just repainted the walls and said we’d put up a fresh new restaurant.” ## Entities - unit expansion (topic) - QSR (sector) - menu pricing (topic) - Nation's Restaurant News (publication) - sales growth (topic) - Smoothie King (company) - Tropical Smoothie Cafe (company) - Mountain Mike's Pizza (company) - Dutch Bros (company) - 7 Brew (company) - Juice It Up! (company) - Lisa Jennings (person) --- Originally reported by Lisa Jennings, Nation's Restaurant News (https://www.nrn.com/beverage-trends/fruit-based-drinks-are-everywhere-but-juice-it-up-keeps-growing). Summarized by Burnaze (https://burnaze.com/article/3d69b73c-1b22-4250-924a-dcb7012787f4).