All our smoothies are developed in-house. Our goal is to pack as much nutrition per dollar into each smoothie. Each smoothie will target specific needs. There'll be smoothies made for those who want a lot of protein and few calories. Other smoothies will be heavy on complex carbs. There'll be smoothies made for those who want to lose weight, and for those who want to gain weight.
Since we're neither chemists nor physiologists, we don't have a high-level understanding of how to develop a smoothie that meets the taste requirements of our customers. But we have a basic understanding of the scientific method. We research and use trial-and-error to figure out how to build the nutritious smoothies that meet customer taste expectations.
Today, we learned that mango kept in cool (40-55 degree) temperatures take a long time (more than 2 weeks) to ripen. Mangos that aren't ripe are tart. Since most customers want smoothies that taste sweet, we have to figure out a way to ripen our produce so that we can predict when they're ready to be prepared. Customers will expect consistency in the taste of our products so we can't just use any fruit when making a smoothie. We have to know when a fruit is ready to be used. Our employees are expected to have an eye and nose for the ideal fruit. They need to develop a *discriminating* palate.
It's risky to use only fresh fruit and high-quality juices to make smoothies. The only way we can make this work is if we develop an efficient work-flow process that reduces waste and have employees who have discriminating taste when it comes to fruit and vegetables. Furthermore, we expect customers to purchase our products primarily because of the expertise of our employees. If we don't understand fruit and vegetables better than the average customer, then they might as well make their own smoothies. Our expertise is as much as a value add as the convenience we provide to customers.
(To Alaska Airline employees - we apologize for the tart smoothies. We'll send over sweet (not sugary) tasting smoothies that'll meet your taste and nutrition expectations. In exchange, you'll have to taste our Jalapeno-Yam smoothie).
The purpose of the smoothie lab isn't to develop the ideal smoothie, just as automobile manufacturers don't try to engineer the perfect car for average customers. The ideal, the perfect isn't cost-effective. Our purpose is to create smoothies that add enough value to our customers so that they'll purchase our products. We try to improve lives, not to make people live the ideal life. We don't make porn. We provide practical nutrition. Someone else can make pornographic smoothies.
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Here's a suggestion: KALE.
ReplyDeleteGwyneth used it to get into shape for Iron Man (the movie).
http://goop.com/newsletter/82/en/
Try it in your smoothies!
Thanks for the suggestion. We'll likely offer a kale based smoothie when we open.
ReplyDeleteKale is very nutritionally dense. Many people are turned off by its slightly bitter taste. But because of its crisp texture, it's ideal for a smoothie mix that masks its bitterness.
Unless your smoothies contain larger chunks of fruit and vegetables, I can't imagine how crispiness would ever be factor.
ReplyDeleteAre you trying to say that the Kale you use will be fresh? Fresh means the Kale will be less bitter. However, crispy, in itself, does not mask bitterness. In fact, it has nothing to do with bitterness.
"Fresh" and "crispy" - like "discriminating vs pick" - are very different...
All the fruits and vegetables we use will be fresh.
ReplyDeleteI was thinking, probably wrongly, that the texture of the vegetable matters when making a smoothie. We used a residential quality blender when we first started making smoothies. Such blenders had trouble chopping up vegetables that were soft and/or stringy. But commercial blenders -- Vitamix and Blentec -- should be able to grind most plants, including flower pedals, into close to a juice-like state. But I still carry the prejudice crispy leaf vegetables are best used for smoothies. I'll make a mental adjustment.
In my experience, crispy (hard?) vegetables seem to keep better, are hardier. For instance, spinach wilts faster than kale. We prefer to use fruits and vegetables that keep longer, as these reduce our risk.
I'm not making a connection between crispness and bitterness. (I've been told that winter kale is less bitter than spring kale). But am I wrong to think that crispy vegetables are more nutritionally dense than those that are limp? I still associate crispness of a vegetable with "fresh."