QSR December 2022

FRANCHI S ING

“And when Tebow says that, you go,” Landon recalls. The Eckles f lew down and met with Tebow and his wife, Demi-Leigh. Landon says they didn’t talk about business “for months.” It was mostly a conversation around making an impact with Tebow’s Quarters 4 Kids initia tive, and f inding synergy. For three hours, Tebow adds, they spoke about ministry, exercise, and even Jiu-Jitsu. That’s not to say Tebow’s mind wasn’t churning, though. “I started to understand the background of all the product [Clean Juice touts itself as the nation’s first and only USDA-certified organic juice and food bar franchise],” Tebow says. “Since I was 15, I’ve just been so focused on health. I believe in the stewardship of it. I believe what we put in our body either gives us life or it takes life. And what I mean by that is it takes focus, it takes energy, or we lose it from it ... If we want to actually live life to the fullest and the best, let’s give ourselves the nutrients to actu ally do that.”

which was 41 percent higher. The period also included franchise entries into four fresh markets—Con necticut, West Virginia, Kentucky, and Montana. Tebow’s role in this evolving story isn’t going to just be a front-facing one. On September 21, Clean Juice opened its third Northeast Florida location in the St. John’s Town Center, wedged between a Visionworks and BurgerFi. And Tebow was the franchisee. His jersey is on his display and Landon says guests “def initely” real ize it’s the “Tebow store.” When asked if this is unit No. 1 of a potential f leet, Tebow nods at Landon and says, “hopefully.” “I think there’s so much room and so much opportunity in the future to continue to grow to make this more available for people, to get to more stores,” he continues. “I would love to in the future after one, get to more, two, three, four, and continue to grow it. It’s not only something that I’m ambassa dor of, it’s something I use all the time.”

TIM TEBOW’S PHILANTHROPIC EFFORTS WERE AN INSTANT FIT FOR CLEAN JUICE’S BROADER GOALS.

In August 2021, Clean Juice unveiled Tebow as its official brand ambassador and got moving on activations. This included social media, web, point-of-purchase materials, product devel opment (Tebow had his own curated meal ), and the company’s first national TV spot. “Started with a handshake and slowly worked into the part nership,” Tebow says. Clean Juice billed the partnership as an accelerant for its next stage of growth. Or as Tebow puts it, helping “make it a household name in the organic food and beverage business.” The chain opened seven stores in Q2 of this year and awarded an additional 13 units to first-time and multi-unit franchisees. That brought the total number of Clean Juice locations in the company’s system to 203, with 127 opened and 76 in devel opment as of September. Its same-store sales rose 3 percent, year-over-year, with the total guest percentage up more than 9 percent from Q2 2021. Clean Juice cracked the Inc. 5000 for the fourth calendar and was ranked No. 21 on the top fast food brands to watch. It’s been a quick rise. Clean Juice had 72 franchise outlets at year-end 2019, which was up 25 net from the prior year. The brand would add a net of 17 locations in 2020 and 2021, respectively, alongside six corporate venues (none opened last year as franchising, which launched six years ago, has settled in as the main path). Clean Juice reported its best Q4 in brand history to close 2021 with cumulative same-store sales gains of 20 percent. Across the year, comps rose 16 percent against COVID-riddled 2020. But notably, the brand served more than 3.3 million total guests,

The sentiment covers Clean Juice’s wider ambitions, too. Landon says the brand hopes to serve 30 million guests some day. Eventually, 100 million, and beyond. Through COVID, Clean Juice closed only one restaurant. Landon believes the reason dovetails with what’s also fueling expansion, and explains how a brand, relatively small in its category, could land a celebrity endorsement like Tebow. “It’s the passion of our owners,” Landon says. “They truly believe that when they open a Clean Juice in their community that they are making an impact and they’re serving food they can’t get anywhere else.” Going back to Tebow’s f irst meeting with Clean Juice, he explained to the Eckles there were mega-watt offers out there from brands he couldn’t get behind. Clean Juice couldn’t touch the dollar figures, but it had a mission Tebow supported. “Like we tell everyone who gets into franchising,” Landon says, “we have the team to teach you the rest. Start with the best. Start with what you care about it. There are 4,000 con cepts you can be a franchisee of, so pick the one you care about.” Tebow’s goal isn’t new to quick service. He wants to break down barriers to healthy food and widen accessibility. Tebow was on the chair of Florida’s governor’s council of physical fit ness when he was in college at UF. He cites obesity studies and freely talks about nutrition. Making his own juice, Tebow combines spinach, celery, cucumber, lemon, ginger, and turmeric. He generally loads up on protein and cycles through shots. Tebow “crushed” a couple of juices before taking the stage in August to surprise operators at Clean Juice’s annual “Juice Jam” conference, held in Charlotte.

CLEAN JUICE LLC

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DECEMBER 2022 | QSR | www.qsrmagazine.com