Juice Businesses Squeeze Into A Coffee-Dominated Seattle -- Smoothie Bars Could Brew Competition

There's nothing more Northwest than a steaming, double-shot mocha - made with nonfat milk, of course - topped with a tall heap of whipped cream. So, will Seattleites be ready to shelve their beloved coffee cups and switch to juice?

When it comes to new businesses in the Northwest, the juice industry is hotter than ever. Juice and smoothie bars, many of them owned by California-based chains, are popping up all over Seattle and the Eastside, competing in a beverage market dominated by coffee and microbrews.

Health clubs, fast-food restaurants and a few espresso stands are adding fresh juice and fruit smoothies to their menus. All of Seattle's Best Coffee bars and Seattle-area Starbucks stores sell fresh-squeezed citrus juices. Several small entrepreneurs are combining sales of juice and espresso, such as Ed's Juice and Java Bar in Green Lake and Pioneer Square Java and Juice. Some retail chains, such as QFC, are adding juice bars in their stores.

Chris Cuvelier, 28, owner of Juice & Smoothie Bar Consulting of San Francisco, says the Seattle area is ideal for juice bars, mainly because many folks can afford, and are willing, to spend $3 or $4 for a beverage.

"People are becoming more health-conscious," Cuvelier said, adding that juice is a beverage anyone can drink any time. "I think it could go head-to-head with coffee."

It's been almost six months since Odwalla unpasteurized apple juice drinks were linked to a deadly E. coli outbreak in Washington, California, Colorado and British Columbia. Although health investigators never pin-pointed the source of the bacteria, the outbreak raised questions about the safety of fresh juice.

But local juice-bar owners agree that in general, their businesses weren't harmed by the Odwalla scare. Most drinks in juice bars are unpasteurized, however the danger of the E. coli bacteria is extremely unlikely, health officials said. If anything, Cuvelier said, it created more awareness in terms of producing and handling fresh juices and smoothies.

Within the past three months, the California-based chain Juice Event, a juice and smoothie bar that's paired with the Golden Bagel Cafe chain, has opened two franchises in Seattle.

Juice Event sells fruit smoothies with names such as "Papaya Peach Melba" and "Raspberry Crush," botanical tea shakes, fresh wheat grass juice and a selection of vitamin and herbal supplements they call add-ins, such as "High Energy" and "Immune Boost," that are blended into the drink.

"A lot of people feel they're meals in a glass," said Lisa Gleason, marketing director for Mitzel's Restaurant Services, the parent company of Juice Event. The shops also sell Seattle's Best Coffee espresso drinks.

Cuvelier said the food cost in a smoothie ranges from $1 to $1.75, depending on the ingredients and season.

There are generally two types of juice bars: owners usually either use individually quick-frozen fruits and juices made from concentrate, or they exclusively use fresh fruits and vegetables - like Seattle's first full-fledged juice bar, the Gravity Bar, which opened in 1986 and how has locations in downtown and in Capitol Hill.

Seattle artist Laurrien Gilman says she opened the Gravity because there was demand for a health-orientated business. Ten years ago, fresh juice and vegetarian items weren't available on most menus, she said. Her business has been growing ever since.

Gilman says a lot of her customers are caffeine-weary former coffee drinkers, who found new energy from fresh juice.

"It's not just a pick-me-up, it's a cleanser," she said.

Cuvelier said juice bars and smoothie carts will soon be as common as espresso stands. His company's World Wide Web site gets about 300 hits a day from people interested in starting their own juice business.

Start up costs vary, depending on whether or not owners want to be associated with a chain, but it costs about $20,000 for to set up up a portable smoothie cart, and between $100,000-$200,000 to open an independent store, Cuvelier said. A top-of the-line smoothie blender costs about $1,000.