Boost Juice to launch drive-through store in Ballarat, Victoria

Rebecca Sullivan
MARCH 22, 2017
news.com.au
BOOST Juice is famous for its fluoro green stores dotted throughout food courts around the country, but now the brand is headed in a new direction with the opening of a new drive-through store.
It will open next Friday, March 31, in Ballarat, Victoria, after Boost was inundated with requests from customers on social media to introduce a drive through option.
“We are now a society who likes to grab and go on the run and that’s how Boost works, so if we can make it a lot more easier for people get to us, then great,” Boost founder Janine Allis told news.com.au.
“We’ve been talking about this for 10 years and it was just about finding the right site, because quite often the drive through spots are snapped up by Maccas and KFC,” Ms Allis said.
Ms Allis says Boost also plans to launch mini Boost stores inside service stations and expand into food.
“We’re looking at getting into service stations to expand our offering and get to more people,” Ms Allis said.
“If it does go into a Caltex or a BP, we want to make sure it still retains our brand and it’s not just a product in a service station. It’s important that we do that.”
The expansion into food has already commenced at two “Boost &” stores, in Sydney Airport and Melbourne’s Chadstone Shopping Centre.
“They do things like protein pots, grain and avocado salads and boiled eggs. Literally just two plain boiled eggs and people love it, which is bizarre, because it’s just boiled eggs,” Ms Allis said.
When asked whether the rise in Australians making smoothies at home was a threat to her company, Ms Allis says Boost Juice has actually benefited from what she calls our new “smoothie-induced culture”, as appliances like the NutriBullet, Vitamix and Thermomix have become hugely popular with consumers.
“I think it’s really great, because what’s happened is people become creatures of habit and they have created a really smoothie-induced culture in this country. I have a Nutribullet at home, it’s great,” she said.
“If people are more in the habit of drinking smoothies, that is only going to be beneficial for us when they don’t have time or can’t be bothered to do it at home.”
Last year, a survey from government-funded health program LiveLighter found some drinks from Boost Juice, as well as Gloria Jeans and McDonald’s, contained more kilojoules than a Big Mac and more sugar than a bottle of soft drink.
The recommended daily kilojoule intake for adults is 8700kj and the World Health Organisation recommends we consume no more than six teaspoons of added sugar per day.
Boost Juice’s ‘Brekkie to Go-Go Super smoothie’ contains 2560kj, 500kj more than a Big Mac (2060kj) and 18 teaspoons of sugar.
The ‘Protein Supreme’ smoothie from Boost’s Black Label range, which is marketed as “premium smoothies with an abundance of nutrition”, contains 2360kj and 12 teaspoons of sugar.
Boost Juice stores are famous for their colourful fit out and buzzing blenders.
Boost Juice stores are famous for their colourful fit out and buzzing blenders.Source:Supplied
Following that story, Ms Allis responded with a series of YouTube videos showing exactly what goes into a Boost smoothie.
“They showed one of our drinks and a big pile of sugar beside it and we were like ‘No, it’s fruit’,” she said.
“People have been so scared of sugar that there’s an increase in scurvy [cases of the old-fashioned disease have risen in the US] because they’re not eating fruit. I’m pleased that common sense has prevailed.
“Whenever something negative comes out, it gives you an opportunity to say ‘This is what’s in our products’. Come and look through all of our fruit bins and you’ll see it’s all fruit. That’s business and it’s given us an opportunity to talk more about our products.”
Ms Allis launched Boost Juice in 2000 at an Adelaide shopping centre. There are now there are 350 stores around Australia and another 70 in 12 other countries.
The Boost Juice Drive Thru store is located at 22 Albert St, Sebastopol, and is open from 6am weekdays and 7am on weekends.
rebecca.sullivan@news.com.au