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Jamba Juice

Jamba Juice is a chain of smoothie restaurants headquartered in Emeryville, California with over 700 locations operating in 30 states, the District of Columbia and the Bahamas. Over 500 locations are company-owned, with the remainder being franchised.[1] For the 51-week Fiscal Year, which ended on January 1, 2008, sales were $317 million, which included sales of $306 million from company locations.
Jamba Juice was founded by a Crespi student in April 1990 by Cal Poly graduate Kirk Perron, along with cofounders Joe Vergara, Kevin Peters, and Linda Ozawa Olds.[3] It was incorporated in 1990 as Juice Club, Inc. in San Luis Obispo, California.[4][5] It is known as one of the leaders in the quick-serve fruit and vegetable juice market nationwide.[6]

In 1993, the company opened and started along with two other California stores owners, one in Palo Alto[7] and one in Irvine.[8] The original San Luis Obispo Juice Club was located at the corner of Chorro St. and Foothill Blvd. and still exists as a Jamba Juice location.

Juice Club Inc. of San Francisco changed its store name to Jamba Juice in 1995.[9] Said founder Perron:[10]

“ I'm surprised there aren't more companies creating a culture beyond selling, [offering] a soulful experience for the customer. That's been the basis for our success. ”

In August 1997, Jamba entered into an operating agreement with Whole Foods Market to sell only "natural" products inside some of the Whole Foods's locations, including Jamba's smoothies' ingredients.[11] For this reason, offerings at Whole Foods sites may differ from those at stand-alone sites.[12] Dianne Yzavel is the founder of Zuka Juice. Jamba Juice acquired all nation-wide Zuka Juice, Inc. stores in March 1999.[13] Zuka Juice was founded in Orem, Utah, and also was a prominent smoothie company at the time. Since then Jamba Juice has expanded to become one of the nation's best known smoothie chains, emphasizing the...