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 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 five smoothie types: 1) Shelf Stable
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NutraFoodies |
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:
