Companies partner to enhance guest experience at more than 700 locations

PLAYA VISTA, Calif., Oct. 2, 2018 – Appetize, the modern Point of Sale (POS) company transforming foodservice and retail payment technology for enterprise businesses, today announced an agreement with Tropical Smoothie Cafe, the fast-casual restaurant concept that serves blended-to-order smoothies and bold, flavorful wraps, sandwiches and flatbreads. Tropical Smoothie Cafe is one of the fastest growing franchise concepts in the country, opening approximately 2 cafes per week and recently having announced its 700th store opening.

After an extensive review of the market, Tropical Smoothie Cafe selected Appetize for its cloud-based POS, self-serve, and mobile product lines. Appetize’s Android and iOS-based Activate software is designed for speed of service and ease of use, which is hugely important for a high-volume, national enterprise like Tropical Smoothie Cafe. Following a successful pilot, Tropical Smoothie Cafe plans to roll out Appetize’s backend management system, Connect, to support live advanced analytics and reporting, and multi-location menu and store management system-wide. In addition, Tropical Smoothie Cafe will be able to easily connect and integrate into third-party software vendors thanks to Appetize’s fully documented APIs.

“We are moving to Appetize because their solution offers our team and guests a mobile and cloud-based platform that’s powerful and easy-to-use,” said Marina O’Rourke, Tropical Smoothie Café, LLC Vice President of Information Technology. “Our franchisees need a solution that can support an omni-channel ordering environment, as well as the ability to manage one or several locations from a centralized, web-based platform that is constantly accessible and secure.”

Tropical Smoothie Cafe plans to initially deploy Appetize POS terminals, handheld devices, and Kitchen Display Systems to reduce wait times and increase guest satisfaction. As deployment continues, Tropical Smoothie Cafe will explore additional offerings, including drive thru capabilities.

“We’re thrilled to work with one of the fastest growing and well-known fast-casual restaurants in the industry,” says Max Roper, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Appetize. “Our companies share the same vision of reducing friction in the guest ordering process, while providing operators and franchisees with modern tools to run their business. We look forward to many years of driving innovation together with Tropical Smoothie Cafe.”

Appetize has been delivering faster, easier-to-use payment technology to enterprise businesses including arenas, stadiums, convention centers, theme parks, campuses, restaurants and retail chain stores since 2011. The technology provides enhanced security, reliability, redundancy, inventory management and increased guest analytics, all critical pieces that large scale organizations demand for their operations.

About Appetize

Appetize is a modern Point of Sale, inventory and analytics platform transforming how enterprises manage and process guest transactions. With an omni-channel approach, Appetize makes front of house transactions more intuitive through fixed, self-serve and handheld form factors, while providing robust kitchen and back office tools. Appetize is trusted by some of the largest and highest volume businesses in the world, including sports and entertainment properties, education campuses, theme parks, travel and leisure sites, and national chain brands. For more information, please visit www.appetizeapp.com.

About Tropical Smoothie Cafe

Tropical Smoothie Cafe is a fast-casual restaurant system with more than 700 locations nationwide. Tropical Smoothie Cafe’s menu features blended-to-order smoothies, as well as bold, flavorful wraps, sandwiches and flatbreads. The rapidly growing franchise has received numerous accolades including rankings in QSR’s Best Franchise Deals, Entrepreneur’s Franchise 500, Forbes Best Franchises, Fast Casual’s Top 100 Movers and Shakers, as well as Franchise Times’ Top 200+ and Nation’s Restaurant News’ Fastest Growing Chains.