Planet Smoothie is the third largest American chain of

smoothie A smoothie is a beverage made by puréeing ingredients in a blender. A smoothie commonly has a liquid base, such as fruit juice or milk, yogurt, ice cream or cottage cheese. Other ingredients may be added, including fruits, vegetables, non-dai ...

stores serving

smoothies A smoothie is a beverage made by puréeing ingredients in a blender. A smoothie commonly has a liquid base, such as fruit juice or milk, yogurt, ice cream or cottage cheese. Other ingredients may be added, including fruits, vegetables, non-dai ...

. The company was founded in 1995 by Martin Sprock in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

, and currently operates more than 100 locations. In November, 2011, Planet Smoothie was acquired by Tasti D-Lite LLC who also operates Tasti D-Lite stores. In June 2015, Quick-Service Restaurant Franchisor

Kahala Brands Kahala Brands is a wholly owned subsidiary of Canada-based MTY Food Group Inc. of Montreal, Quebec. Based in Scottsdale, Arizona, Kahala is one of North America's largest holding company of franchise fast food restaurant companies. In May 2016 ...

purchased both Planet Smoothie and Tasti D-Lite in a deal that brings their 128 locations into the portfolio of about a dozen fast food, treat and sandwich chains such as Blimpie and

Cold Stone Creamery Cold Stone Creamery is an American international ice cream parlor chain. Headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona, the company is owned and operated by Kahala Brands. The company's main product is premium ice cream made with approximately 12–14% bu ...

owned by the Serruya family of Canada. Together, the Tasti D-Lite and Planet Smoothie locations will now be run from the

corporate headquarters in

Scottsdale, Arizona , settlement_type = City , named_for = Winfield Scott , image_skyline = , image_seal = Seal of Scottsdale (Arizona).svg , image_blank_emblem = City of Scottsdale Script Logo.svg , nick ...

. In August 2022, Planet Smoothie expanded operations to Australia with 4 locations opening across Victoria within the first 12 months.

Advertising

In 2007, Planet Smoothie decided to send one person on a trip from

Orlando Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures re ...

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United State ...

to assume the role of Cup Man, the chain's longstanding brand character. The 22-market "Good for You, Good for the Planet" tour took Cupman coast-to-coast in a

biodiesel Biodiesel is a form of diesel fuel derived from plants or animals and consisting of long-chain fatty acid esters. It is typically made by chemically reacting lipids such as animal fat ( tallow), soybean oil, or some other vegetable oil ...

converted

ice cream truck An ice cream van ( British) or ice cream truck (North American) is a commercial vehicle that serves as a mobile retail outlet for ice cream, usually during the spring and summer. Ice cream vans are often seen parked at public events, or ne ...

designed to raise awareness of green issues in markets across the country. Candidates were required to submit a video of why they felt they would make the best Cup Man for the 30-day green trek. Joel Moss Levinson, of

Dayton, Ohio Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater D ...

was named the winner. For Joel's winning entry, he wrote a song with lines such as “I wanna be your Cupman” and “I’m environmentally responsible, I

recycle Recycling is the process of converting waste materials into new materials and objects. The recovery of energy from waste materials is often included in this concept. The recyclability of a material depends on its ability to reacquire the p ...

, reduce and reuse, that’s why I want to drive your car that runs on

fuel.” Joel garnered enough online votes to be chosen as the company's walking, talking, touring CupMan. Joel has since won 11 contests — earning more than $200,000 in money and prizes. He has been featured in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'',

The Jay Leno Show ''The Jay Leno Show'' is a talk show created and hosted by Jay Leno. Premiering on NBC on September 14, 2009, the program aired on weeknights at 10:00 p.m. ET/ PT through February 9, 2010. The program was modeled upon the format of a late ...

and an

Access Hollywood ''Access Hollywood'', formerly known as ''Access'' from 2017 to 2019, is an American weekday television entertainment news program that premiered on September 9, 1996. It covers events and celebrities in the entertainment industry. It was create ...

Rising Star.

Environmental stewardship

In 2008, Planet Smoothie, who served its

in cups made of recycled polystyrene and offered the reusable "MacDaddy" insulated travel mug, sponsored a contest to encourage inventors to develop an

eco-friendly Environment friendly processes, or environmental-friendly processes (also referred to as eco-friendly, nature-friendly, and green), are sustainability and marketing terms referring to goods and services, laws, guidelines and policies that clai ...

solution to polystyrene, currently the only cup material in the marketplace that maintains a

's frozen integrity.

Merger

Following the acquisition of the Planet Smoothie brand by Tasti D-Lite, several stores began to convert to a dual brand product mix, offering both smoothies and

soft serve Soft serve, also known as soft ice, is a frozen dessert, similar to ice cream but softer and less dense due to air being introduced during freezing. Soft serve has been sold commercially since the late 1930s in the US. In the US, soft serve is ...

References

External links

*
Tasti D-Lite official company website
{{Fast-food chains of the United States 1995 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state) 2015 mergers and acquisitions Companies based in Atlanta Companies based in Scottsdale, Arizona Fast-food chains of the United States Fast-food franchises Juice bars Kahala Brands Restaurants established in 1995 Smoothie chains in the United States