FDD Talk 2015: The Green Leaf’s Beyond Great Salads/Bananas Smoothies and Frozen Yogurt Franchise Opportunity (Financial Performance Analysis, Estimated Costs, and Other Important Stuff You Need to Know)

In this FDD Talk 2015 post, you’ll learn the following:

• Section I – Background information on the Green Leaf’s Beyond Great Salads/Bananas Smoothies and Frozen Yogurt franchise opportunity, including relevant news updates

• Section II – Estimated initial investment for a Green Leaf’s Beyond Great Salads/Bananas Smoothies and Frozen Yogurt franchise, based on Item 7 of the company’s 2015 FDD

• Section III – Presentation and analysis of Green Leaf’s Beyond Great Salads/Bananas Smoothies and Frozen Yogurt’s financial performance representations, based on Item 19 of the company’s 2015 FDD, including information on the:

• 2014 average gross sales for the 14 company-owned Green Leaf’s/Bananas restaurants that were open for one year or more

• 2014 average food and paper cost for the 14 company-owned Green Leaf’s/Bananas restaurants that were open for one year or more

• 2014 average labor cost for the 14 company-owned Green Leaf’s/Bananas restaurants that were open for one year or more

Section I – Background Information

Green Leaf’s Beyond Great Salads has been around since 1976, offering patrons healthy meals made from only the freshest high-quality ingredients, making it a great alternative to traditional fast foods. From fresh-tossed salads made-to-order to delicious wraps, grilled panini sandwiches, hearty homemade soups, and a build-your-own “Pick & Mix” salad concept, Green Leaf’s makes healthy eating easy and convenient.

In recent years, the Green Leaf’s concept has combined with Bananas Smoothies and Frozen Yogurt, a company that got its start back in 1979 as Everything Yogurt. Both are owned by the Villa Restaurant Group, which owns a number of restaurant chains, including the Villa Italian Kitchen, South Philly Cheesesteaks and Fries, and several other upscale full-service restaurants. As a collective of different emerging brands, Villa has 400 restaurants in the U.S., Puerto Rico, and 8 other countries.

Here’s how Green Leaf’s and Bananas keeps things fresh in the health-conscious quick-service restaurant segment:

Greenleaf’s: Fresh and Natural

What better way to describe a menu to today’s increasingly health-conscious diners? Green Leaf’s approach is surprisingly simple when it comes to the menu.

There are six paninis to choose from (Turkey Chipotle, Turkey & Ham Cuban, Chicken Margherita, Fire Roasted Chicken & Peppers, Tuna Melt Deluxe, and the Pesto Caprese, which is vegetarian), seven “wrappers” (Turkey BLTA, Cranberry Almond Chicken Salad, Chicken Fajita, Balsamic Chicken & Roasted Peppers, Tuna Salad, Thai Chicken, and Chicken Caesar), and three specialty sandwiches (Southwest Chicken, Cranberry Almond Chicken Salad, and the Chicken Avocado, the last of which is grilled to order).

Then of course there are the salads and the daily soup offerings.

Bananas: Sweet-n-Simple

Bananas uses nonfat frozen yogurt and fresh ingredients to make their combinations. The simple menu includes real fruit smoothies (Bananaberry, Mango Magic, Caribbean Berry, Piña Colada, Strawberry, Superfruit, Pomegranate Splash, the Extreme, Muscle Builder, and Brazilian Sunrise), fresh squeezed juices, nondairy fruit frosties (just fruit and ice, including Bananaberry, Strawberry, Strawberry Colada, and Superfruit), nonfat frozen yogurt sundaes, and an assortment of natural grab and go snack offerings.

Less Than Stellar Reviews

And that’s putting it kindly. If you do a Google search on reviews for Green Leaf’s and/or Bananas, say on Yelp and other review sites, the chain’s locations get extremely poor reviews. These are mostly locations in airports and malls. Perhaps it’s hard to get good workers in those locations, because both the food and the service get thoroughly panned in these reviews.

I mentioned in the intro to this article that Villa Restaurant Group has 400 restaurants, but only 35 of them are Green Leaf’s/Bananas, and this might just be why. If they hope to expand the number of these units, they’re going to have to deserve better reviews.

Section II – Estimated Costs

• Please click here for detailed estimates of Green Leaf’s Beyond Great Salads franchise costs, based on Item 7 of the company’s 2015 FDD.

• Please click here for detailed estimates of Bananas Smoothies and Frozen Yogurt franchise costs, based on Item 7 of the company’s 2015 FDD.

Section III – Financial Performance Representations (Item 19, 2015 FDD) and Analysis