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

For corporate presentations, regional chain strategies, educational forums, or keynote speaking, Steven Johnson, the Grocerant Guru®, delivers actionable insights that fuel success.

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