Smoothie King Called On Its Entire Franchise System to Help with Disaster Relief in Baton Rouge

As the rain came down on Friday, August 12, no one could have predicted the amount of damage and devastation that flooding would cause to the Baton Rouge community. Areas were flooded with up to five feet of water and at least 100,000 homes were damaged or completely destroyed. It was clear that the impact would undoubtedly be devastating, but the recovery efforts were unclear. Smoothie King was one business that wasn’t going to wait for others to get involved before doing its part to help.

The brand’s VP of Operations, Brad West, was in charge of helping franchisees manage stores in the area in the midst of the natural disaster. He spent a lot of time speaking with one franchisee in particular, Roger Wilder, who had the possibility of multiple stores being damaged by the flood. Once the realization had set in that only one of his stores would be damaged, Wilder’s first concern was, “I want to take care of my community.”

Wilder, along with other members of the Smoothie King team, started handing out smoothies at one of the shelters and eventually went into the communities to help those in need.

“We went out there every day for the entire week and handed out a total of 12 to 13 thousand smoothies to the Baton Rouge community,” said West. Corporate team members also lent a hand.

The idea from one franchisee soon began to snowball throughout the Smoothie King system. Franchisees from around the country were sending supplies and monetary donations to the franchisees affected by the flooding and also to the community to help repair damage.

Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans 11 years ago, affecting several Smoothie King locations that also received support from the entire system. These franchisees felt it was their time to repay the favor.

“The passion and outpouring support from all of our locations in all parts of the country was unbelievable,” said West. “It was almost overwhelming with all the boxes we had coming in.”

Many people believe that big brands, including franchises, are far removed from their communities. For Smoothie King, that couldn’t be further from the truth. While it is up to each franchisee to decide how they get involved with the local community, they have the support of a much larger team to make an impact when needed.

The Baton Rouge Smoothie King locations have a long history of providing smoothies to schools, partnering with high school football programs to provide protein powder and participating in fundraisers. The Baton Rouge community and Smoothie King already had such a strong partnership, so there was no hesitation to help out when it was needed. They have always felt welcomed by the community.

As we approach Small Business Saturday, it’s important to recognize the partnership that franchise owners have built with their communities and how engrained they are in the local culture.

West explains, “It is very critical for franchise brands to connect with their local communities. When you look at what Smoothie King stands for—to help inspire a healthy lifestyle--we have to connect with the community to be able to do that. We need them as much as they need us.”