What Is A Smoothie?
 The
emergence of the smoothie into American society has fueled the
debate of the century: Just what is a Smoothie? Is the term
being used too loosely? Distributors want to know, brokers and
operators want to know, and yes, consumers want to know. After
all, no one wants to be caught on the wrong side of the fence
on this issue What if it turns out that the purists win, and
only the rawest of ingredients succeed in making the grade.
Then we will have to rename the scores and scores of fruit blended
products that are entering the market place and are being bought
at record breaking speed by consumers all over the world NutraFoodies
set out to answer this question by asking Fruit Growers and
Manufacturers of the smoothie based products alike: What is
a Smoothie?
 The
main consensus among growers, end users, and manufacturers alike,
is that a smoothie is a blended fruit, and juice. Some have fitters,
and some do not. Some are powder based, some are shelf stable,
Some are freshly produced for the end user, and some are made
in advance and bottled ( or packaged) for retail sales. whatever
it is, it's setting. And it is setting so profitably, that targe
companies, with other lines, are going into production to get
their fair share of the profits. The motivation for entering this
part of the food-service and retail business are varied. Once
a health food only item, smoothies now appear in quick service
restaurants, supermarkets, corporate lobbies, cafeterias and kiosks,
as well as on familv restaurant menus, hospitals, high school
and collegecampuses. Public acceptance of this item has changed
the landscape of what can be mass marketed, and what cannot. The
bottom line is that the manufacturing issues of the smoothie have
had to take into consideration the application uses of the end
usen In speaking with retailers and manufacturers alike, five
types of smoothie applications become apparent:
The
five smoothie types:
1)
Shelf Stable: Shelf
stable means Ready to Pour. It is generally poured into
madhines for mass volume.
2)
Frozon Mix: Thaw,
pour, add ice or water, blend.
3)
Powder Based formula: Add
water or other liquid, and blend. Although it is stable on the
shelf, you cannot call it shelf stable unless it is ready to pour.
4)
IQF: Fruit
or Vegetables, Individually Quick Frozen, this is based on the
end user's formula.
5)
Fresh
Read the entire article in
the Winter '99 Issue |
