Blenders in the Grass Grows Healthier
Six New Smoothie Flavors Focused on Dietary Dynamics
Blenders in the Grass is responding to some of their customers’ dietary requests by adding a new menu of six dairy-free, gluten-free, plant-based smoothies to their classic lineup of smoothies, bowls, and juices.
“What we tried to do with these is make a focus for each drink,” said Scott Webber, one of the three owners of Blenders in the Grass. “Our other drinks we classify by flavor, but these drinks we classify by what they do.”
Blenders, which strives to provide a quick and nutritious alternative to the typical fast-food meal, teamed up with registered dietitian Jennifer Tasca to create the new offerings. “She started looking at our calories, fat, protein, and carbohydrate levels,” said Art Tracewell, another Blenders owner.
During the intensive process of creating the new smoothies, Tracewell came to believe more in whole foods than juicing when it comes to health benefits. “When you juice something, all that great stuff goes out the back end,” he explained. “But everything great is in these drinks.”
The company’s regular smoothies are typically made with six items (mostly frozen fruits), but the new drinks incorporate around 12 and are slightly sweetened with stevia. “There’s a ton in here,” said Tracewell. “And you have some strong flavors competing, so it’s a balancing act.”
This new lineup will be available at all 15 locations:
Trim Fit: “It focuses on hydration and rejuvenation,” said Webber of the 274-calorie, high-fiber drink with coconut water, avocado, and ginger.
Recovery: “This is our best seller so far,” said Tracewell of the smoothie packed with almond butter, milk, kale, dates, and flaxseeds.
Cleanse: “We added pea protein,” explained Webber of this drink with coconut water, flaxseeds, and cinnamon. “We really wanted to make sure that these were all plant based.”
Antioxidant: This bright-indigo smoothie incorporates pitaya and blueberry with chia, flaxseeds, and almonds.
Probiotic: “It almost has a bit of a back-end pumpkin flavor to it,” said Webber of the carrot-y, almond milk smoothie. “If you have some gastrointestinal issues going on, then go for the probiotic.”
Anti-Inflammatory: “We worked on getting some ginger and turmeric in there,” said Tracewell of his partnership with Tasca in planning the drink. They carefully adjusted the contents of dates, kale, and spinach to add more fiber.
