---
title: "QSR Magazine: Smoothie Franchises Are Soaring In Quick Service"
url: https://burnaze.com/article/5b551d35-7920-4246-829f-4ccc1baff6bf
source: "1851 Franchise"
original_url: https://1851franchise.com/qsr-magazine-smoothie-franchises-are-soaring-in-quick-service-11153
category: "Beverage & juice"
industry: "Restaurants"
segment: "Beverage & juice"
published: 2017-03-17T15:10:09.000Z
modified: 2026-11-01T02:35:29.541Z
image: https://newimage.1851franchise.com/cdn-cgi/image/quality=85,format=webp,width=1280,height=720/story/featureImage/d03d1ee99510da71d8d1b47313792db09191.jpg
---

# QSR Magazine: Smoothie Franchises Are Soaring In Quick Service

**TL;DR:** Tropical Smoothie Cafe opened 86 new restaurants in 2016 and aims to open two new locations per week in 2017. The franchise's CEO, Mike Rotondo, believes the brand's focus on smoothies has helped it grow in the quick-service industry.

*originally published in 1851 Franchise on 2017-03-17. [Read the original](https://1851franchise.com/qsr-magazine-smoothie-franchises-are-soaring-in-quick-service-11153).*

## Story

The smoothie franchise opened 86 restaurants in 2016, hitting the 500th location mark and they’re looking to open two per week in the upcoming year, according to a recent article in QSR Magazine.

Tropical Smoothie CEO Mike Rotondo said he saw the benefits to the quick-service food industry and knew his business could sell smoothies better than any burger or sandwich chain could.

“We did not see a decrease in traffic when some of these big brands started throwing around smoothies. That didn’t hurt us. I think what it did was it helped people realize, ‘Well this isn’t a very good smoothie but boy, there’s a lot of benefits to smoothies.’ And that’s when they turned to us,” he told QSR Magazine.

Rotondo said the franchise is more excited than ever as they continue to grow.

“And the reason for that is that Tropical Smoothie is really kind of emerging into this field that is on fire and we’re not just growing for growth’s sake. This is sustainable and hard-hitting. This is growth that is going to continue.”

## Entities

- 1851 Franchise (publication)
- Restaurants (sector)
- unit expansion (topic)
- QSR Magazine (publication)
- Tropical Smoothie Cafe (company)
- Mike Rotondo (person)
- quick-service industry (topic)
- smoothie franchises (topic)

---
Originally reported by 1851 Franchise (https://1851franchise.com/qsr-magazine-smoothie-franchises-are-soaring-in-quick-service-11153). Summarized by Burnaze (https://burnaze.com/article/5b551d35-7920-4246-829f-4ccc1baff6bf).