Innovation

The business innovation provided by Frutta Bowls is a healthy range of foods that promote wellness and health. The menu item in which they specialize in is known as the “Frutta Bowl,” which is a smoothie bowl that comes in a variety of bases including acai, kale, and pitaya. Each bowl is then topped with nutritious fruits and granola. All of the ingredients are fresh, and each menu item is customizable to fit into different diets and lifestyles. This is because Frutta Bowls prides themselves on using fresh, quality ingredients and catering to special diets such as vegan or gluten-free. The company does not limit themselves to just smoothie bowls, however, as they have recently expanded their menu to include other comfort foods, such as toast and coffee. The innovative aspect of the company/product is that the menu items are energy-rich and full of antioxidants and vitamins that are also delicious and convenient for the customer. The bases used in the bowls are known to have numerous health benefits, such as helping to lower cholesterol, reducing the risk of cancer, and boosting brain functionality. Frutta Bowls is definitely a wise choice for those who want an affordable and healthy meal.

Frutta Bowls was opened in 2016 by founder and CEO, Brooke Gagliano. During college, Brooke was interested in health and wellness and sought a way to incorporate those interests into a career. The initial idea of the “acai bowl” was introduced to Brooke during a vacation to California. While there, she learned a lot about the acai berry, including its many health benefits and delicious flavor. She saw an opportunity to bring the acai berry and California lifestyle to the east coast and promote the fruit through a meal she would call, the “Frutta Bowl.” Brooke was motivated to open a restaurant that provided unique and healthy meals because of her interests in health and wellness during her college years. Brooke noticed that the United States was entering a “health-craze” and used her idea of the Frutta Bowl to satisfy the needs of healthy meal-seeking people, while also improving the overall healthiness of her community.

The reason that Michele Cordaro decided to franchise a Frutta Bowls was that she saw it as a likely successful and socially responsible business opportunity. She has a friend who had done the same and was successful in making a sufficient profit while benefiting the community. Cordaro had previously worked and has retired from her job in the school system and decided that opening a business near Rutgers University would be a great choice for her and help her give back to the Rutgers community by providing college students with affordable and healthy meals, versus the typical “grease trucks” that are popular amongst students. Michele and her husband are the owners of the New Brunswick Frutta Bowls location. Since it is a franchise, the decision to franchise the restaurant was a family decision; Michele and her husband decided it was time to retire from their daily working lives and open a profitable business with the money they had saved up. The innovation is linked to three UN goals, which are: goal 3 (good health and well-being), goal 8 (decent work and economic growth), and goal 12 (responsible consumption and production). Frutta Bowls meets these goals through its nutritious meals offering numerous health benefits, the creation of jobs for college students, and the recycling efforts incorporated into the business model.

Inspiration

As our group talked to employees and the owner of Frutta Bowls, we were able to gather a lot of different perspectives. An aspect in which both interviewees mentioned was the nutrition of their products. When Nathan (employee) was asked what makes the store stand out, he said the food was “healthy” and “a lot better than pizza,” which happens to be the most prominent type of fast food on Rutgers’ campus and what a lot of college students lean towards. Michele Cordaro also boasted about how the ingredients are “fresh” and have “no sugar added”. She also explained how “the business caters to customers with options that are gluten free, nut free, and vegan”. Frutta Bowls is passionate about providing consumers with something that they will enjoy and be nourished by. In today’s society, there is an abundance of processed and unnatural foods which Frutta Bowls want to distance themselves from. Michele also mentioned that her favorite part about operating her Frutta Bowls franchise was the “opportunity to meet and work with such wonderful people everyday”, and her feeling of accomplishment on providing job opportunities to college students seeking part-time work.

Overall impact

Frutta Bowls has many goals that it wishes to accomplish. As a business, they are focused on expanding and “building the brand”. Owner Michele Cordaro let us know that Frutta Bowls is focusing on advertising which poster and social media. This will contribute to economic growth and make the franchise more recognizable to the public. In regards to society, Frutta Bowls is heavily involved in the community, something they take a lot of pride in. The location which we had primary contact with is located at Rutgers University which allows the business to be very interactive with students. To get the community together Cordaro explained how the store had recently held an “open mic night” which allowed students to make new friends and express themselves. She also informed us that the store often donates platters and is regularly involved with charities. Recently, they have worked with the Susan G. Komen Foundation in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness month. The company also keeps the environment in mind every step of the way. Both interviewees had mentioned that the store makes an active effort to recycle throughout the day. Cordaro also mentioned a future plan to implement “100% compostable utensils” in the store for the smoothies and juices that they provide.

Business benefit

Although the owners were not able to provide specific numbers, we were able to get a sense of the overall quantitative impacts that Frutta Bowls has on the community. At the Rutgers location alone, Frutta Bowls currently provides over 30 students (Michele Cordaro) with part-time work opportunities at a competitive wage. Since Frutta Bowls has 48 locations (Frutta Bowls website) and primarily operates in college towns, this translates to potentially over 1,400 jobs for college students with a meaningful company that really cares about its customers and community.

Frutta Bowls also boasts an impressive waste recycling regimen, recycling hundreds of pounds of waste every day. Frutta Bowls also plans on introducing 100% compostable drinking cups, spoons, and bowls in the near future (Michele Cordaro). When comparing this to the other restaurants or pizzerias in the area, Frutta Bowls recycling efforts are more than tenfold. Many of the other restaurants do not offer recycling garbage cans, nor participate in recycling at all. In terms of improving the health of the community, Frutta Bowls serves over 100 customers per day (Michele Cordaro), which translates into over 36,000 orders per year. The total undergraduate enrollment at Rutgers is 35,000 students, which shows that they are most likely serving a hefty percentage of the total student body every year. Many of these orders are repeat customers as well (Michele Cordaro), which shows that Frutta Bowls has made a long-term impact on a lot of people’s eating habits and lifestyle.

Social and environmental benefit

The qualitative impact that Frutta Bowls has had on the community has been the ability to provide students with a healthy, affordable alternative to the junk food restaurants that dominate the restaurant industry on campus. Frutta Bowls also holds special event nights in an effort to attract students, thus creating new friendships and a fun hangout spot. Frutta Bowls has also improved the quality of the environment by recycling most of the garbage they collect, which helps repair a dent in the poor recycling efforts from most of the other restaurants. Michele Cordaro also participates in charity work throughout the year, holding special campaigns for the awareness of cancer, autism, and more. Through these efforts, Frutta Bowls has made a significant impact on the Rutgers campus within the short amount of time that it has been in operation there.

Interview

Michele Cordaro, Franchise Owner