Smoothie King’s Flatbread Lesson: Why Hand-Held Food Is the Next Growth Platform

 

Smoothie King may have started with smoothies, but its latest sales performance demonstrates something much bigger about the American foodservice consumer: beverages are food, flatbreads are food, and hand-held foods are increasingly becoming the format for how America eats.

The Dallas-based chain reported 9% same-store sales growth in July, with its new Chicken Flatbreads identified as one of the important contributors. Launched in June, the toasted flatbreads combine grilled chicken, tomatoes, cheese and a choice of chipotle, ranch or pesto sauce.

That is more than a menu extension.

It is a strategic recognition that consumers don't necessarily think in traditional restaurant menu categories. They think about what they want to eat, when they want to eat it, how portable it is and whether it fits their lifestyle.

And that is where the Hand Held Food opportunity becomes particularly interesting.

The Hand Held Food Economy Is Bigger Than Most Restaurant Operators Think

I have long argued that the food industry needs to stop defining "food" too narrowly.

A smoothie consumed as a meal replacement is food.

A breakfast sandwich is food.

A burrito is food.

A taco is food.

A pizza slice is food.

A chicken flatbread is food.

And increasingly, consumers expect all of these foods to work across multiple dayparts and locations.

There is no authoritative industry dataset that categorizes every U.S. meal specifically as "hand-held." That distinction matters because burgers, sandwiches, wraps, tacos, burritos, pizza and other portable foods are tracked in different restaurant and foodservice categories.

But the available data clearly demonstrate the scale of the opportunity.

Technomic consumer research has found that 32% of restaurant consumers in the U.S. and Canada order sandwiches and related handhelds at least once every 90 days.

That is not a niche behavior.

It is mainstream foodservice behavior.

And when handheld foods are combined with the broader universe of pizza, burgers, tacos, burritos, wraps, breakfast sandwiches, chicken sandwiches, hot dogs and other portable foods, the potential occasion base becomes enormous.

The Bigger Story: Americans Are Eating Away From the Table

The hand-held food opportunity is being amplified by another major structural change: where meals are consumed.

The National Restaurant Association reports that nearly 75% of restaurant traffic now occurs off-premises. In other words, approximately three out of every four restaurant orders are consumed somewhere other than inside the restaurant.

That fundamentally changes what a restaurant should design food to do.

Food that travels well has an advantage.

Food that can be eaten without a knife and fork has an advantage.

Food that fits into a vehicle cupholder, lunch break, commute, office, school schedule or living-room environment has an advantage.

And food that combines portability + craveability + value + speed has an even greater advantage.

The National Restaurant Association reports that 42% of U.S. adults use a restaurant drive-thru at least weekly, while 47% pick up takeout at least weekly and 37% order delivery weekly.

Those numbers tell restaurant operators something important:

The restaurant is no longer necessarily the place where the meal is eaten. It is increasingly the place where the meal is acquired.

The Drive-Thru Makes Hand Held Food Even More Important

Revenue Management Solutions reported that drive-thru orders represented approximately 65% of total QSR orders in 2025, down from the extraordinary 83% level reached in 2020.

Even after that normalization, 65% is a staggering number.

Think about the operational implication.

If roughly two-thirds of QSR orders can flow through a drive-thru, then restaurants should be designing more of their menus around foods that:

·       travel well;

·       remain appealing for the duration of the trip;

·       can be consumed conveniently;

·       don't require traditional tableware;

·       fit into today's fragmented dayparts; and

·       encourage add-on purchases.

This is precisely where beverages and flatbreads become strategically interesting.

Smoothies have always been portable.

Now Smoothie King is making the food component portable, too.

That creates the possibility of a two-handed or one-hand-plus-beverage meal occasion rather than a beverage-only visit.

That is a powerful distinction.

And What About Dine-In?

Dine-in has not disappeared. Far from it.

But the balance has changed.

The National Restaurant Association's data show that off-premises now represents approximately three-quarters of restaurant traffic.

Technomic's beverage research illustrates the continuing importance of the restaurant itself: 61% of beverage sales still occur through dine-in, compared with 16% through takeout, 16% delivery and 7% drive-thru overall. Among operators that actually offer drive-thru service, drive-thru's share of beverage sales rises to 28%.

That is a critical distinction.

Consumers still want the restaurant experience.

But they increasingly want restaurant-quality food that works wherever they happen to be.

The winning restaurant doesn't have to choose between dine-in and off-premise.

It needs food designed to perform in both.

Pizza Has Been a Hand Held Food All Along

Perhaps the industry's greatest example of hand-held food hiding in plain sight is pizza.

Pizza can be eaten with a knife and fork.

But American pizza culture has always made another behavior equally important: pick up a slice and eat it with your hands.

The USDA's Food Surveys Research Group reports that approximately 11% of the U.S. population consumed pizza on any given day in its more recent prepandemic analysis. More than half of pizza consumed was obtained from restaurants, while approximately one-quarter came from grocery stores.

An earlier FSRG analysis found an even higher estimate of approximately 13% of Americans consuming pizza on a given day, depending on the survey period and methodology.

That means pizza is not simply a restaurant category.

It is a highly portable food format that crosses:

Restaurant → Takeout → Delivery → Grocery → Convenience → Home

That is the Grocerant lesson.

The consumer doesn't care which channel owns the food.

The consumer cares whether the food satisfies the occasion.

Flatbread Is Pizza's More Flexible Cousin

This is why Smoothie King's Chicken Flatbread deserves more attention than simply being called a "new menu item."

Flatbread provides many of the attributes consumers already understand about pizza while giving operators greater flexibility around portion size, toppings, proteins, sauces and dayparts.

Chicken, tomatoes, cheese and sauce can create a familiar flavor architecture.

But the flatbread can be positioned as:

lunch, dinner, snack, post-workout food, afternoon fuel or an accompaniment to a beverage.

That flexibility is enormously valuable.

And because the product is hand-held, it can potentially move with the consumer.

That matters in a foodservice environment where convenience is no longer an amenity.

Convenience is part of the product.

Smoothie King Is Showing What Menu Expansion Can Really Mean

Smoothie King ended 2025 with 1,242 units, according to the information supplied in the company's release, and Technomic data cited in the release put 2025 sales at approximately $791 million.

The chain also says it has grown its store count 76% over the past decade, added 34 units since the beginning of 2026 and added 47 new store commitments to its development pipeline.

The company is also expanding its operational capabilities.

It rolled out ovens across its approximately 1,250-unit system at no cost to franchisees to support the new food platform.

That is important.

This isn't simply adding another SKU to a menu board.

It is adding food-production capability to a beverage-led restaurant system.

And the July same-store sales result suggests consumers may be responding.

Competitor Tropical Smoothie Cafe demonstrates the other side of the equation. Technomic data cited in the release show approximately $1.5 billion in 2025 sales and 1,659 units, with food playing a much larger role in its overall proposition.

That comparison should get the attention of every beverage-led chain.

The question isn't whether beverages can sell food. The question is how much more frequently consumers will visit when beverages and food solve the occasion together.

Consumer First. Menu Second.

This is where I believe too many restaurant companies get the strategy backward.

They ask:

"What food can we add?"

The better question is:

"What does our consumer need from us that we aren't currently providing?"

That is a dramatically different approach.

If the consumer wants a breakfast that can be eaten in the car, build around portability.

If the consumer wants a post-workout meal, build around protein and satiety.

If the consumer wants an afternoon snack, build around portion size and beverage pairing.

If the consumer wants dinner without sitting down, build around portable meal bundles.

If the consumer wants restaurant food at home, design for takeout and delivery quality.

The consumer should determine the menu architecture—not the other way around.

And that is why Smoothie King's flatbread move is strategically significant.

The company is taking something it already owns—the beverage occasion—and adding a portable food occasion around it.

That is food-channel blurring in action.

Three Insights From the Grocerant Guru®

1. Stop Separating Beverages From Food

Consumers don't necessarily see a smoothie, sandwich, flatbread or pizza slice as separate categories. They see something to consume that satisfies an occasion. Operators that merchandise beverages and food as complementary components of a meal can increase relevance, frequency and check potential.

2. Make the Menu Travel

With nearly 75% of restaurant traffic occurring off-premises, portability should be treated as a product attribute, not merely a packaging decision.

Hand-held foods are particularly well positioned for the mobile consumer because the food itself becomes compatible with the consumer's lifestyle.

3. Follow the Consumer, Not the Restaurant Category

The most important question for every restaurant brand is no longer "What category are we in?"

It is:

"What consumer occasion can we own next?"

Smoothie King is demonstrating the opportunity. A beverage brand can become a meal brand. A flatbread can become a snack, lunch or dinner. Pizza can move from pizzeria to grocery to convenience. And restaurants can become foodservice platforms rather than narrowly defined categories.

The future belongs to the brands that understand that the consumer doesn't live inside your menu category. The consumer lives in occasions—and the winning foodservice brands will follow them there.

That is the Grocerant Guru® perspective. Elevate Your Brand with Expert Insights

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With deep experience in restaurant operations, brand positioning, and strategic consulting, Steven provides valuable takeaways that inspire and drive results.

Visit GrocerantGuru.com or FoodserviceSolutions.US Call 1-253-759-7869

The Next Restaurant Battle Is Bigger Than Food: McDonald’s, Red Bull and the Fight for Consumer Occasions

 

McDonald’s is getting into the energy-drink business with Red Bull, but from my perspective as the Grocerant Guru®, the bigger story is not caffeine.

The bigger story is consumer evolution.

Consumers are no longer willing to define a restaurant visit by the traditional three meals a day, a limited beverage menu and a single transaction. They want more choices, more convenience, more portability and more reasons to visit—or order—from the brands they already know.

Restaurants that evolve with those expectations can create new revenue streams.

Those that don't risk losing customers to competitors, convenience stores, coffee chains, grocery stores and increasingly sophisticated foodservice retailers that are willing to give consumers exactly what they want.

McDonald's is betting that Red Bull can help open another door.

Beginning August 17, participating McDonald's restaurants will offer the Red Bull Dragonberry Energizer, combining Red Bull with raspberry syrup and freeze-dried dragonfruit. Customers looking to reduce calories can substitute Red Bull Zero, and participating restaurants will also sell an 8.4-ounce can of Red Bull.

McDonald's is simultaneously expanding its "dirty soda" strategy with the Vanilla Swirl, which combines Coke, Diet Coke or Coke Zero with vanilla and cold foam.

That may sound like two beverage launches.

I see something much bigger.

McDonald's Is Expanding the Day, Not Just the Menu

The restaurant industry has historically thought about dayparts in fairly rigid terms:

Breakfast. Lunch. Snack. Dinner. Late night.

Today's consumer does not.

An afternoon customer may want an energy drink rather than coffee. A teenager may want a customized dirty soda. A parent may want a meal and an energy drink for the road. A worker may want something cold and caffeinated at 3 p.m. without sitting down for another traditional meal.

That creates an enormous opportunity for restaurant chains.

Energy drinks are particularly interesting because the category has experienced significant growth at retail since 2020, with sugar-free products helping drive the expansion. Consumers increasingly view energy drinks as an alternative to coffee, and afternoon consumption gives restaurants an opportunity to create a new occasion between lunch and dinner.

That is precisely where daypart expansion becomes strategically important.

McDonald's isn't simply selling another beverage.

It is attempting to create another reason to visit McDonald's.

CPG Is Becoming Restaurant Foodservice's New Frontier

The other important piece of this strategy is the blending of CPG and restaurant foodservice.

For years, the restaurant industry largely separated itself from packaged consumer products.

Restaurants sold prepared food.

Grocery stores and convenience stores sold packaged food and beverages.

That distinction is rapidly disappearing.

Today, restaurant consumers increasingly expect recognizable CPG brands inside restaurants—and restaurants are increasingly recognizing that CPG partnerships can provide credibility, variety and incremental occasions.

Red Bull is an especially powerful example because McDonald's doesn't have to convince consumers what Red Bull is.

The consumer already knows.

That dramatically lowers the educational burden.

The restaurant gets the traffic opportunity while the CPG brand gets another distribution channel.

That is a powerful symbiotic relationship.

McDonald's Needs More Than Traffic—It Needs More Transactions and Bigger Baskets

The timing is also important.

McDonald's reported only 0.8% same-store sales growth in the second quarter, despite beverage initiatives and marketing promotions, while restaurant traffic remained weak.

That makes this beverage expansion more than a menu experiment.

It is an attempt to create incremental demand.

And that is exactly how restaurant executives should be thinking.

The question shouldn't simply be:

"What new food should we add?"

The better questions are:

What new occasion can we own?

What existing customer need can we satisfy?

What product can bring a customer into the restaurant who might not otherwise come?

What product can increase the average check without substantially increasing labor or complexity?

Those are very different questions.

The Drive-Thru May Be the Most Important Asset in This Strategy

There is another opportunity hiding in plain sight.

The drive-thru isn't simply a faster restaurant entrance.

It is a high-speed distribution platform.

Most chains continue to think about the drive-thru as a way to fulfill one order at a time.

The Grocerant Guru® sees an opportunity to think much bigger:

How many meals can one vehicle deliver?

A consumer picking up dinner for a family could potentially leave with meals for four people, an afternoon snack for tomorrow, beverages for the car and packaged products for later.

That turns the drive-thru from a transaction point into a mini foodservice distribution center.

And CPG partnerships can help make that possible.

Imagine ordering a family meal and adding an energy drink, packaged dessert, snack, bottled beverage or another ready-to-eat item for later.

The restaurant has just expanded the transaction beyond the immediate meal.

That is daypart expansion, basket expansion and channel expansion happening simultaneously.

Three Drive-Thru Ideations From the Grocerant Guru®

1. The "Add One More" Drive-Thru

Build the ordering experience around one simple question:

"What else do you need for later?"

At the speaker, app or kiosk, customers could receive highly targeted add-ons based on the order and time of day.

Breakfast could trigger an afternoon beverage.

Lunch could trigger a snack.

Dinner could trigger tomorrow's breakfast.

A family meal could trigger additional beverages or desserts.

The goal isn't to push more food.

The goal is to anticipate the next consumption occasion.

2. Multi-Meal Drive-Thru Bundles

Restaurants should create bundles specifically designed for customers picking up food for multiple people or multiple occasions.

For example:

Tonight's Dinner + Tomorrow's Breakfast + Road Beverages

The customer orders once and receives multiple consumption occasions in one drive-thru transaction.

That could increase average check while requiring relatively little incremental selling effort.

It also gives restaurants an opportunity to compete more directly with grocery stores and convenience stores for the consumer's next meal.

3. The Drive-Thru "Grab-and-Go Market"

The final opportunity is to turn part of the drive-thru experience into a miniature CPG marketplace.

Imagine a designated pickup area containing high-margin, highly portable products that customers can add to their order:

·       Energy drinks

·       Bottled beverages

·       Packaged snacks

·       Desserts

·       Breakfast items

·       Family-size add-ons

·       Ready-to-eat products

·       Limited-time CPG collaborations

The restaurant doesn't have to become a grocery store.

It simply needs to recognize that the consumer's need doesn't end when today's meal is consumed.

The Grocerant Guru® Bottom Line

McDonald's move with Red Bull is about much more than energy drinks.

It is another signal that the restaurant industry is becoming increasingly channel-blurred, daypart-blurred and occasion-blurred.

Consumers don't think in restaurant categories.

They think in needs, occasions, convenience, value and experiences.

The winning restaurant chains will increasingly look outside their traditional menus for ways to satisfy those needs.

CPG partnerships can provide restaurants with recognizable brands, incremental occasions and potentially attractive margins without requiring the restaurant to invent every product itself.

And the drive-thru may ultimately become one of the industry's most underutilized assets.

The restaurant industry spent decades teaching consumers that the drive-thru was the fastest way to get one meal.

The next generation of restaurant operators should be asking how to make it the fastest way to get several meals, beverages and consumption occasions at once.

That is where the real growth opportunity may be.

The consumer is evolving.

Restaurant chains must evolve with them—or risk watching those customers evolve right out of their brand.

Three Grocerant Guru® Takeaways

1. Own more occasions.
Don't just compete for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Build products and partnerships that create afternoon, snack, beverage and "for later" occasions.

2. Use CPG to expand the menu without reinventing the kitchen.
Strategic CPG partnerships can add recognizable products, new consumption occasions and incremental revenue while potentially limiting operational complexity.

3. Turn the drive-thru into a multi-meal distribution channel.
The next evolution of the drive-thru isn't necessarily serving more cars faster. It is serving more consumption occasions per car. The brands that learn how to put multiple meals and occasions into a single transaction could discover a powerful new source of top-line sales and bottom-line profit.

Are you ready for some fresh ideations? Do your food marketing ideas look more like yesterday than tomorrow? Interested in learning how our Grocerant Guru® can edify your retail food brand while creating a platform for consumer convenient meal participation, differentiation and individualization?  Email us at: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us or visit: us on our social media sites by clicking one of the following links: Facebook,  LinkedIn, or Twitter