Jamba Juice facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Jamba

A Jamba store in Tokyo, Japan
Type	Subsidiary
Founded	San Luis Obispo, California, U.S. (1990; 35 years ago (1990))
Founder	Kirk Perron
Headquarters	Atlanta, Georgia , United States
Number of locations	864 (2019)
Key people	Nathan Louer (Chief Brand Officer)
Parent	GoTo Foods

Jamba, which used to be called Jamba Juice, is an American chain of stores that sells delicious blended fruit and vegetable juices, smoothies, and other healthy foods. It's known as a quick-service restaurant, which means you can get your order quickly. The very first store opened in 1990 in San Luis Obispo, California.

Today, Jamba is owned by GoTo Foods, a company that owns several restaurant chains. There are more than 850 Jamba locations in the United States and in other countries like Japan, the Philippines, and South Korea.

History

How Jamba Got Started

Jamba was founded by Kirk Perron, a supermarket manager who was also a big fan of cycling and living a healthy life. He wasn't happy with the snacks available after a workout, so he decided to open his own store.

The first shop, originally named Juice Club, opened on March 31, 1990, in San Luis Obispo. At first, Perron let other people open their own Juice Club stores through franchising. But he later decided it was better for the company to own its stores directly. In 1995, the chain was renamed Jamba Juice. The name "Jamba" comes from a West African word that means “celebration.”

In 1999, Jamba Juice bought out Zuka Juice, another juice bar that was its competitor.

Growing and Changing

In 2006, Jamba Juice was purchased for $265 million by a company called Services Acquisition Corp. International. After the sale, this company changed its name to Jamba, Inc.

Later that year, Jamba, Inc. received $35 million from investors to help the company grow. One of the main investors was the Serruya family from Canada, who had started the popular Yogen Früz frozen yogurt chain.

A Jamba Juice store at the CityWalk in Universal Studios Hollywood

In 2009, Jamba started selling more than just smoothies. They added wraps, sandwiches, and flatbreads to their menu.

New Name and New Headquarters

In 2016, Jamba Juice moved its main office from California to Frisco, Texas. The company said it was becoming too expensive to do business in California's San Francisco Bay Area.

Three years later, in 2019, Jamba was bought by Focus Brands, a company based in Atlanta. That same year, the chain officially changed its name from "Jamba Juice" to just "Jamba." This was to show that they sold more than just juice and to move away from health concerns some people have about the word "juice."

Menu and Products

Over the years, Jamba has tried different things with its menu.

In 2007, Jamba planned to partner with Nestlé to sell a line of bottled Jamba drinks in stores. However, they had trouble making the drinks consistently, so the plan was stopped a year later.

In 2014, Jamba expanded its menu of fresh juices. They started making juices to order with fresh ingredients like kale, beets, and ginger.

The Innovation Bar

In July 2016, Jamba opened a special concept store in Old Pasadena, California, called the Jamba Juice Innovation Bar. It was about twice the size of a normal Jamba store and was designed to be a "cool and hip place."

Besides smoothies, this special location sold unique food items like quinoa bowls, toast with hummus and vegetables, and homemade potato chips. It also had a large dining area with Wi-Fi for customers.

The Innovation Bar was a place for Jamba to test new ideas. However, it closed in January 2017 and was turned back into a standard Jamba store.

See also

In Spanish: Jamba Juice para niños

• Booster Juice
• Milkshake
• Orange Julius
• Robeks
• Smoothie
• Talbott Teas