Boost Juice Reveal Plans for the UK and Beyond
2015 has seen a renewed push by Australian founded juice chain Boost Juice in the UK. We went to find out more from Boost Juice UK Co-Founder Richard O'Sullivan.
QSR: It seems that you have really begun to ramp up your store openings. What is behind this? Why now?
We only open stores in great locations - and like buses - quite a few came along all at once! We’ve done 20 in the last 24 months or so.
QSR: How many stores are you planning to open in the next 12 months?
We have more new stores in Manchester, London, Sheffield and Glasgow opening in August and September ….and we’ll open as many great sites as become available next year. Maybe 1…maybe 20. You never know what’ll come up in our target locations.
QSR: Beyond that, how many Boost stores do you want there to be in the UK?
It’s not a quantity game for us- it’s about the quality of the stores. There is potential for about 100 good stores, in our current UK format.(without food) But there is HUGE scope in Europe, so there in no ceiling to our expansion. There are over 200 Boost stores in Australia alone- in a population of just 22 million.
QSR: What sort of locations will your upcoming stores be in (ie. which cities) and within cities what location types do you look for?
Good quality city and regional shopping malls, large transport hubs…but mainly indoor locations for the time being. We’ll be aiming to open a few more in Scotland after we open our first Boost in Glasgow.
QSR: Who would you see as your competitors?
Anyone selling “food and beverage" on the hoof is an indirect competitor. Joe and the Juice and Crussh are doing a great job - we have a lot of respect for both these businesses. They operate in a different format to us, but they are healthy competitors for us.
QSR: What sets you apart from these competitors?
The Boost VIBE…according to our customers! We also focus TD4 yoghurt based freshly made smoothies, a grab and go, meal in a cup. We don’t have seating and we don’t currently have a food menu and other than on Oxford Street London, our UK stores so far, are located in Malls or transit.
We serve 1/2 million customers each week across our network. The fear of disappointing or failing to deliver a “best in class experience” to ANYONE…is a great driver for everyone at Boost.
QSR: Who is your target market/ who is your typical customer?
We never stop researching our customers, their tastes and their preferences and whats trending - we take absolutely nothing for granted. The majority are female and under 35.
QSR: What is your most popular menu item?
Boost has over 400 stores in 16 countries, so it can vary a bit! In the UK, Mango Magic and Strawberry Squeeze are definitely up there! We are great believers in localisation, so it may vary in some countries.
QSR: Do you have any menu innovations coming down the track? Would you expand into a food offering?
We have a team dedicated to New Product Development -and new initiatives. Our next big push in the UK is the introduction of the new Boost Ap. It will allow you to order, pay for and collect your personal smoothie, where, when and just how you like it! We’ve just introduced our new “Energy balls” which are very popular! The new product pipeline is constant.
Boost has food menus in many countries, but we’ve not introduced food into the UK yet. If the right product or partner came along - we’re open minded. It would have to a “to die for’ product, to sit alongside our smoothies and juices.
