Drunken Monkey mixers believe fruit smoothies have a bigger punch than concentrates, says Team Viva
One out of every third millennial has a fitness app installed on his/her smartphone, will buy organic food and will want to live a healthy life. Yet, when it comes to beverages, they tend to remain fixated on their colas and coffees, overlooking the damage that caffeine consumption can do. Even a cocktail or mocktail offered by a bar or a restaurant has a calorie count ranging from 150 to 200 calories per serving!
To offer a healthy alternative to beverages, Samrat Reddy opened the smoothie bar, The Drunken Monkey, about three years ago and is now planning to roll out a healthy version of cocktails and mocktails. “I am very health-conscious. I don’t drink tea or coffee and am not fond of alcohol too. When I was in college, I had a tough time finding my kind of hangout. The idea of a smoothie bar germinated then. But it was not until I went to Australia and Scotland for work that I opened up to the business potential of juice and smoothie bars,” says he.
Reddy is hoping to reinvent the mocktail and cocktail market with fresh fruit extracts than sugary concentrates. “The syrups they use are artificially-flavoured and coloured and aren’t really healthy. I would advise everyone to invest in fresh fruits instead. Besides, did you know that cocktails can be made better with smoothiesIJ We have those ideas in mind and have tested a few as well,” he tells us.
Apart from being a healthier alternative, the smoothie bar, that has 60 outlets across India, also offers various concoctions that complement diets. “We have 170 varieties of smoothies, ranging from meal-replacing variants, detox drinks, protein shots, glassfuls that cure hangover and, of course, the generic fruit versions.” And in these times of sustainability, these are rustled up with local produce without preservatives, colour or sugar.