Huge Jamba Purchase Boosts Revenue at Sizzling Platter

Sizzling Platter is on the hunt for new restaurant concepts to add to its portfolio of quick-service brands, and a major acquisition last year served to expand its operations in a new segment and add sales to its balance sheet.

Leaders at the operating arm of CapitalSpring, itself a large institutional investor with more than $2.8 billion in capital invested, said in growing Sizzling Platter they’re looking for non-competing concepts with existing units that are performing above the system average in top markets.

Jamba clearly checked those boxes for the restaurant group whose list of brands includes Little Caesars, Wingstop, Dunkin’ and Jersey Mike’s, among others. Sizzling Platter acquired Vitaligent and its 94 Jamba stores from family office VantEdge Partners, marking its entry into the snack and beverage segment. The company also bought two Cinnabon stores last year, its first in that brand.

“We were not currently in the smoothie bowl space, so when the opportunity came up to buy the Jamba stores, the crown jewel portfolio for the brand, probably the best group of stores they have in their system, we felt it was a great addition,” said Jim Balis, CEO of Sizzling Platter and a managing director at CapitalSpring.

The deal included 77 stores in Northern California and 17 in the state of Washington. Jamba is now Sizzling Platter’s third largest brand, and its addition helped bring the group’s total sales in 2022 to $807.3 million, up from $549 million the previous year. With the sales jump, Sizzling Platter moved up to No. 8 on the Franchise Times Restaurant 200.

Little Caesars is the company’s largest brand, with 448 stores (349 in the United States, 99 in Mexico), followed by Wingstop at 110 locations, including 20 it purchased in June in Ohio. Rounding out the group are 25 Dunkin’ stores, eight Sizzler restaurants, five Red Robin locations and five Jersey Mike’s units.

Balis said the 20 Wingstops the company acquired from Buckeye Restaurant Group fold nicely into Sizzling Platter because it already operates Little Caesars units in Columbus, Ohio, “and it was a great package that came with a great team.

“The other nice thing about it is it comes with some great development territory that we’re excited about and it gave us the opportunity to promote somebody internally,” he continued, referencing Josh Miller, who will oversee the new Wingstop stores.

While Kris Cox, executive vice president of finance for Sizzling Platter, said the operating group couldn’t share specific financials from its eight concepts, he noted all are performing well this year—with the exception of Jamba. But Cox said he’s anticipating strong end-of-the-year revenue numbers from the juice and smoothie concept, which has been hurt by inclement West Coast weather.

“If you follow the weather out in California you know there’s been a lot of rain, a lot of cold temperatures out there in the first half of the year, and that has significantly impacted the bottom lines of our stores so far,” Cox said. “It’s a very seasonal brand, and weather dependent, so we’re looking to see improvements on that front this summer.”

Jamba reported average unit sales of $731,361 in 2022, according to Item 19 of its franchise disclosure document.

Balis said it is just a matter of time before things start to turn around for the portfolio of Jamba stores. “It’s got a lot of favorable components, starting with the fact that the brand tends to attract a lot of younger people who don’t necessarily like the smell of fried foods and are looking for something to eat that is healthier,” he said.

“The brand sits in a great whitespace in the food market, with plenty of room for growth. Plus, it’s got a very lean labor model. It’s not like Sonic, where you have to hire 50-60 people to run the business.”

Balis noted Jamba’s products are also prime for automation. “At some point there’s going to be some sort of variation around making a smoothie. There’s not a lot of complexity to it, like making a burrito or something of that nature. It’s pretty simple really and we are exploring ways to maximize efficiencies.”

The brand in 2020 began working with Blendid, a maker of robotic kiosks, to launch Jamba by Blendid. Seven automated kiosks are open on college campuses and at travel centers, and the company plans to expand the program.

Jamba, which has about 800 locations in the U.S. plus the Philippines, Taiwan, South Korea and Thailand, has undergone a brand evolution since being acquired by Focus Brands in 2018. It dropped “Juice” from its name in 2019 and subsequently expanded its menu with plant-based options and reduced sugar selections.

“If you look at the competitive landscape within the smoothie system you know that other brands are expanding their bowl platforms rather aggressively,” Balis said. “Dropping ‘Juice’ from its name was similar to Dunkin’ dropping ‘Donuts.’ It broadens your menu and how your brand is viewed.”

To drive sales across its brands in a challenging restaurant environment, Balis said Sizzling Platter has implemented a number of initiatives this year to improve the bottom line, starting with analyzing food and labor costs at each of their restaurants to help establish better in-store efficiencies.

Additionally, he said Sizzling Platter deployed several monthly incentive programs this year with the goal of improving employee retention by rewarding top performers using metrics such as sales targets, restaurant cleanliness and worker safety.

The company is conducting quarterly surveys and soliciting employee feedback to assess the restaurant culture and identify areas for improvement. It is also offering educational programs and training on topics like personal development, launching educational subsidy programs and looking into the creation of a customizable insurance benefit offerings to its employees.

Other culture-building efforts include small group bonding events such as pizza parties and bowling outings. “We want to be viewed as an employer of choice,” Balis said.