Open a fruit juice bar: budget, equipment, standards, status

How to open a fruit juice or smoothie bar, fixed or mobile? What budget to plan and what equipment? What standards and regulations to respect? Which legal status to choose?

Fruit juices and smoothies meet the demand for fast but healthy consumption. Riding this trend, many entrepreneurs are embarking on the creation of juice bars and smoothies.

Here are the key elements you'll need to open a juice bar under the best possible circumstances:

• An excellent relationship,

• An effective concept, aimed at one or more well-defined targets (women, athletes, students, working people in a hurry, etc.),

• A promising location, if possible very busy and as close as possible to your target,

• Suitable equipment,

• A comfortable and cozy decor.

• All you need to know about starting a juice bar is right here!

Open a juice bar: the market and trends.

The consumption of fruit juices has grown steadily in the United States since the 1980s. The American passion for fruit juices has grown with the search for a better-balanced diet.

A person consumes an average of 22 liters of fruit juice per year, which represents a market of 2 billion euros.

The main trends in the fruit juice market are as follows:

• The search for new tastes and new associations,

• The craze for healthy products,

• Strong growth in organic,

• The ultra-rapid development of the vegan niche,

• The attraction for eco-responsible and fair products,

• The demand for transparency on the origin of ingredients,

• The attraction for on-site preparation,

• The decline in plastic packaging and the arrival of alternative solutions to conventional straws.

In addition, the boom in the smoothie market is being confirmed. Very consumed by urban women, these beverages combining fruits and vegetables highlight various benefits: slimming, detox, energy booster, healthy glow, tanning activator, hair health ...

In the specific segment of juice bars and smoothies, the following trends can be noted:

• The proliferation of establishments offering smoothie bowls (smoothies presented in plates or bowls, with accompaniment),

• Specialization in niches and specific needs: beauty, detox, etc.

• Specialization in specific times and modes of consumption: noon, on-site, take away, evening (non-alcoholic cocktails), etc.

• Specialization in fast or, on the contrary, slow food,

• The appearance of new cold pressing techniques.

Create a franchise or without a franchise?

Opening a fruit juice or smoothie bar as a franchise has many advantages: brand awareness, prices negotiated with suppliers, installation support, turnkey communication strategy, or even better anticipation of risks.

However, if you are interested in the franchise, be aware that you will have to pay entry fees in most cases, in addition to the annual fee and the minimum personal contribution.

Here are some examples of franchise networks to contact if you want to open a fruit juice bar:

• Detox Delight,

• Elixir,

• Want Juice,

• Health Inside,

• Juice Lab,

• or Feel Juice.

Beyond each network's identity, the offer in terms of juices and smoothies varies widely from one brand to another.

If your concept is original, you can easily create your juice bar without a franchise. Your bar should bring out your personality: customers will come for your products, for the atmosphere, but also you.

What diploma and what training to open a juice bar?

It is quite possible to open a fruit juice bar without a diploma. However, if you are going to sell smoothies or cocktails that you make yourself, it is best to have bartending, mixology, or cocktails training.

Note that your activity will be of a commercial AND artisanal nature if you make your juices for immediate consumption or offer take-out or delivery: your contact will then be the Chamber of Trades and Crafts.

If you do not produce yourself and do not offer take-out, your activity will be purely commercial.

Creating a fruit juice bar: the steps.

The main obstacles at start-up are to find the financing and the right location.

Here are the main steps to open a juice bar:

• Train yourself,

• Mature your idea, get inspired by the places you love, conduct real market research,

• Find your concept or your franchise network,

• Carry out an economic study: list the needs and find the necessary financing, build a juice bar business plan,

• Identify the premises or the business to be taken over and sign a commercial lease: this is certainly the most delicate point. The quality of the location will be the key to success, knowing that the best locations are often taken or require paying a high lease fee,

• Carry out the work and decorate the room,

• Complete the mandatory training if you transform, in particular food hygiene,

• Choose your legal status and Register (CCI or CCI + Chamber of Trades),

• Start communication and activity.

Open a juice bar: standards and regulations.

Opening a juice bar is subject to the following obligations:

• Respect hygiene standards (layout of premises, equipment, product storage temperature, etc.),

• If you transform, follow the training "food hygiene in restaurants,"

• Take the "operating license" training course if you wish to serve alcohol,

• Comply with safety and accessibility standards ( fire safety and accessibility for people with disabilities),

• Respect the obligation to display prices,

• The use of allergenic ingredients must be indicated in written, legible, and visible form,

• Signage must indicate the prohibition of smoking,

• Comply with the obligation relating to mandatory displays for staff,

• Opening hours: they must comply with those established by your prefecture,

• Terrace: If you can use a terrace, you will need to request authorization from the town hall,

• If you play music, it will be compulsory to pay for the SACEM membership.

What legal status to open a juice bar?

Reminder: in the event of take-out or on-site production, a double registration in the Trade Directory and the Trade and Companies Register will be required. Your contact will be the Chamber of Trades.

Here are the different possible statuses to open a juice bar:

• The micro-enterprise: simple status but less credible than the others and subject to turnover ceilings,

• The status of the sole proprietorship in reality: more expensive than the micro-enterprise and not always readable, social contributions being calculated based on the profit of the previous year,

• The company's status is the most suitable for a juice bar: SARL, EURL, SAS or SASU,

• If you are alone, prefer the SASU, which allows you to avoid Social Security for the self-employed (ex-RSI).