• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Menu
  • Home
  • About
    • About Franchise Chatter
    • Contact
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of Service
    • Affiliate Disclosures
  • Subscribers Only
    • Login
    • New to Franchise Chatter? Start Here
    • America’s Most Lucrative Franchises
    • Franchises Ranked by Average Revenues
    • Franchises Ranked by Average Profits
    • Franchise Winners, Survivors and Losers Last Year
    • FDD Talk
    • Search by Name
  • Top Franchises
  • Franchise Earnings
  • Costs
  • Fees
  • Quiz
  • Search

The Early Days of Lemon Heaven (Affordable Beverage Franchise): From Zero to $218,000 in Sales (1996 to 1997)

Last updated on May 5, 2012 by Franchise Chatter 1 Comment
in Beverage Franchise, Franchise Article, Low Cost Franchises

This is the inspiring story of how Marty and Mirjam Bennett grew Lemon Heaven into a lucrative low cost franchise over the course of 16 years. First part of the series.

1996

On January 25, 1996, newlyweds Marty and Mirjam Bennett formed Observ Novelty Foods & Event Merchandising. They chose this name to give them the option to branch out into merchandising, which is a large part of their background from years of handling merchandise sales for tour events like the Ice Capades. Marty and Mirjam would sub-contract cotton candy and freshly squeezed lemonade to venues that they were familiar with — stadiums, arenas, and convention centers. Applications and letters of introduction went out to all the arenas, stadiums, and convention centers in Vancouver at the beginning of 1996.

America's Most Lucrative Franchises of the Year
Lemon Heave Photo (Marty Bennett and His Cart)


Learn Which Franchises Can Make You Rich
Marty Bennett

Marty was able to secure his first ever event booking at The Cloverdale Rodeo, which was held on May 17, 1996. Sales were $2,100 for the four-day event. With one event under their belt, Marty started to follow up on some of the earlier proposals. He was always sure he could help the larger venues achieve a higher per cap by bringing in his niche products and services as a sub-contractor.

Lemon Heaven Photo (First Event)

Sure enough he caught the attention of the district manager for Service America (called Servomation in Canada), Jan Besseling.  Marty would meet with Jan at his office in The Vancouver Trade and Convention Centre and Jan would set up meetings with The Convention Centre and BC Place Stadium, which were both Servomation accounts. Big things were starting to happen!

The first meeting was with the Vancouver Trade and Convention Centre, where Marty and Mirjam did a presentation where they made fresh lemonade for the entire catering department. Soon after, they had a meeting with BC Place Stadium and both accounts were obtained. They would start at the convention center on June 22, 1996 for the book sellers convention and would service 17 conventions before the end of the year. On July 6, 1996, they would work their first event at BC Place at the AIDS Conference where they had a small lemonade stand on the outside plaza. They would sell $6,400 at the AIDS conference that week.

Lemon Heaven Photo (First Cart)
Mirjam Bennett

To fill the gaps, Marty was able to get an account with The Lonsdale Quay Market in North Vancouver. The Lonsdale Quay Market was a farmers market type place that was nicely suited to their fresh product and the novelty of watching your product being made before your eyes. In addition, the market was located next to a bus terminal and sea bus to downtown Vancouver, so it had a lot of transient foot traffic.


💰How Much Franchise Can You Afford? Use Our Free Financial Calculator



🎯Find GOOD Franchises in Your Target Industries That Are STILL Available in Your Area (Free Tool)


Lemon Heave Photo (Lonsdale Quay 1996)
Lemon Heaven at the Lonsdale Quay Market in 1996

Sales for their first year in 1996 was $64,000. They were “rich” beyond their wildest dreams. All the hard work was really paying off.

1997

By the January of 1997, Marty and Mirjam were looking to branding to increase their professionalism and differentiate themselves from competitors with lower quality and less professionalism. They would adopt the name “Lemon Heaven” as the trademark for their lemonade so that people could tell the difference between their superior lemonade and less desirable “impostors”.

In addition to graphics on their carts and kiosks, they would invest in logo cups. They paid a student of Emily Carr School of Art in Vancouver a couple hundred bucks to design their logo, which is the current Lemon Heaven logo without the oval border. In addition, they expanded the flavors from their original recipe to include a cherry flavor and a lime flavor, as well as a diabetic version.

Lemon Heaven Photo (First Logo Cups)

Franchises Ranked by Average Revenues and Profits

The Vancouver Trade and Convention Center would keep them busy in 1997 where they would service 41 conventions and consumer shows. Servomation was extremely happy with their operation and would ask them to expand over 2100 miles away to a newly renovated exhibition center in Toronto called The National Trade Centre, which was located at Exhibition Place on the CNE grounds. Toronto was Canada’s largest population base and the perfect opportunity for growth.

Marty’s dad, Barry, had always hoped that Marty would learn the marine canvas trade and eventually take over the family business. He always thought that Marty’s crazy
and childish dreams of running his own lemonade stand would evaporate and he would eventually come to the realization that the marine canvas trade would be his
future for a steady income.

By the summer of 1997, Barry packed up the marine canvas business and went to work for Marty and Mirjam full time. Marty and Mirjam would spearhead the expansion to Toronto while Barry and Maureen, Marty’s mom, would look after the Vancouver operations.

In the summer of 1997, Marty would realize that special events would be a lucrative addition to the larger venues. With Barry’s skill in construction and marine canvas fabrication, they developed the Lemon Heaven Kiosk, which was unlike anything anyone had ever seen in the concession business in Canada. The kiosk provided shelter from bad weather and would enable them to achieve much higher sales, while keeping the operation looking clean and tidy. The kiosk was also highly visible and provided a professional appearance that was lacking in the concession business in Canada at the time.

Lemon Heaven Photo (First Kiosk)

With their professional looking kiosk, crisp, clean carts and professional uniforms, it would not be long before people would start asking if this operation was a franchise.
Seeing the immediate threat, the inquisitors would be immediately dismissed as spies. This would continue for three more years.

Marty would continue building carts in the backyard of their new basement suite in Tsawwassen, despite many noise complaints from neighbors. Despite all the challenges, cart construction continued throughout the summer of 1997 and in the fall they would load up four new Lemonade carts and drive to Toronto. They would open operations at The National Trade Centre in September 1997.

Lemon Heave Photo (National Trade Center 1997)

By the end of 1997, sales had gone from $64,000 to $218,000.

To read the second part of the series, please click here.


💰How Much Franchise Can You Afford? Use Our Free Financial Calculator



🎯Find GOOD Franchises in Your Target Industries That Are STILL Available in Your Area (Free Tool)





Franchise Winners and Losers Last Year

Tagged as: Lemon Heaven

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Nate says

    April 3, 2012 at 11:47 pm

    Great story, and I loved all the details. You guys have done it right!!!

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Previous post: Snap Fitness Plans to Open 75-100 Clubs Throughout the UK by 2017

Next post: Must-Read Q&A: How MOOYAH Plans to Grow from 30 Restaurants Today to 200 By the End of 2014

Primary Sidebar

💰How Much Franchise Can You Afford? Use Our Free Financial Calculator

🎯Find GOOD Franchises in Your Target Industries That Are STILL Available in Your Area (Free Tool)

As seen in:  New York Times, Bloomberg Businessweek, and CNBC

Login

Remember Me
Register | Lost your Password?
Reminder: Your username and password are case-sensitive.

Need help? Email franchisechatterblog@gmail.com

🚀 Daily FDD Talk Posts

Steak ‘n Shake Franchise

Garage Force Franchise

Pet Butler Franchise

Kilwins Chocolates Franchise

Matco Tools Franchise

Firehouse Subs Franchise

Mr. Handyman Franchise

GarageExperts Franchise

Tropical Smoothie Cafe Franchise

Moe’s Southwest Grill Franchise

Tim Hortons Franchise

Toppers Pizza Franchise

Sonic Drive-In Franchise

Elements Massage Franchise

Wild Birds Unlimited Franchise

Qdoba Mexican Eats Franchise

Great Harvest Franchise

Snap-On Franchise

Mathnasium Franchise

Beef Jerky Experience Franchise

Ellie Mental Health Franchise

Miracle Method Franchise

LearningRx Franchise

Ellianos Coffee Franchise

The Patch Boys Franchise

Grasons Estate Sales Franchise

Style Encore Franchise

Music Go Round Franchise

Play It Again Sports Franchise

Plato’s Closet Franchise

Once Upon A Child Franchise

Jeremiah’s Italian Ice Franchise

The Maids Franchise

The Honey Baked Ham Company Franchise

Wings Over Franchise

🏆 Best Franchises by Industry

Best Franchises by Industry (All Lists)

Best Laundromat Franchises

Best Storage Unit Franchises

Best Car Wash Service Franchises

Best Gym and Fitness Franchises

Best Pizza Franchises

Best Sandwich Franchises

Best Childcare Franchises

Best Ice Cream Franchises

Best Coffee Franchises

Best Hamburger Franchises

Best Salon and Beauty Franchises

Best Chicken Franchises

Best Smoothie and Juice Franchises

Best Maid Service Franchises

Best Mexican Restaurant Franchises

Best Massage Service Franchises

Best Tutoring Franchises

Best Auto Repair Franchises

Best Auto Oil Change Franchises

Best Asian Restaurant Franchises

Best Pet Franchises

Best Commercial Cleaning Franchises

Best Sports Bar Franchises

Best Baked Goods Franchises

Best Moving/Junk Removal Franchises

Best Mailbox Franchises

Best Apparel Retail Franchises

Best Senior Care Franchises

Best Restoration Franchises

Best Tech Franchises

Best Travel Agency Franchises

Best Trampoline Park Franchises

Best Tools Distribution Franchises

Best Salon Suites Franchises

Best Property Management Franchises

Best Laboratory Services Franchises

Best Staffing/Recruiting Franchises

Best Real Estate Franchises

Most Profitable Franchises

Top Low Cost Franchises

Franchise Chatter uses affiliate links for Franchise Help and Franchise Brokers Association.

Franchise Chatter © 2022