No. 1 in Entrepreneur Magazine’s Juice Bar Category for 17 Years.

December 14, 2009

NEW ORLEANS — This year was a good year to be the king. Despite a down economy and a dismal year for food-service franchising, Smoothie King expanded during 2009 – racking up four key awards this week from key opinion leaders monitoring the franchise business community:

• Entrepreneur magazine ranked Smoothie King no. 1 in the juice bar category on the 31st annual Franchise 500 list – marking the 17th year that Smoothie King has occupied the no. 1 spot
• Entrepreneur magazine ranked Smoothie King no. 80 overall on the 2010 Franchise 500 list
• AllBusiness ranked Smoothie King no. 7 overall on its second annual list of AllStar Franchises – up from no. 9 on its 2009 list
• Smoothie King improved its rank in the growth category on the AllBusiness list – ranking no. 40 this year, up from no. 51 last year

Entrepreneur magazine’s Franchise 500 list is designed to highlight the best new opportunities for potential franchisees, with all companies judged by the same criteria – objective, quantifiable measures of a franchise operation, including financial strength and stability, growth rate and size of the system.

AllBusiness is a leading resource providing information for small businesses with fewer than 500 employees, and conducts research to measure the health and direction of the small business sector.

A worldwide demand for healthy, fast, functional food is helping drive Smoothie King’s success, as is a growing trend toward snacking during the day. In July 2009, the company launched a new premium line of Smoothie King Private label vitamins and supplements and began opening two hours earlier for breakfast. The company continued international expansion in 2009, and new stores are planned for Turkey, Egypt and Japan.

“Receiving top recognition in these categories is an honor and testament of our commitment to providing a healthy fast-food alternative,” said Smoothie King’s Co-founder and CEO, Steve Kuhnau. “Thanks go out to our loyal guests who since 1973 have chosen Smoothie King as a part of their healthy lifestyle.”

Smoothie King opened 103 new stores last year and continues to expand with 53 stores opened since January 2009. Serving up a variety of healthy function-based smoothies, Smoothie King offers cutting-edge nutritional products and snacks in over 600 locations across the globe.

About Smoothie King Franchises Inc.

Smoothie King is a privately held, New Orleans-area-based franchise company and the premier Smoothie Bar and Nutritional Lifestyle Center in the industry. Smoothie King offers guests the original nutritional fresh-blended smoothie and healthy retail products, including sports beverages, energy bars, healthy snacks, vitamin supplements, herbs, minerals and other sports nutrition products. Smoothie King opened its first store in 1973 and started as the first franchised smoothie bar/health food store in the United States in 1989, and currently has more than 600 units operating in 32 states and the Republic of Korea. For more information, visit www.smoothieking.com.