Jamba Juice CEO: We're a Growth Story

Debra Borchardt: There's been a lot of talk about the healthcare mandate and how it's going to affect workers and providing healthcare for them. Is that going to be an issue for you? Will you be adjusting shifts or anything like that?

James White: Really, for us, we're focused on the things that are controllable. We've, historically, had a healthier workforce. We're advantaged by a workforce that is a little bit more youthful, so that's an advantage for us, and we view the new healthcare reform as one of the things that sifts in the external environment and we'll manage through that like we've managed through everything else but we don't see it as a detriment to our growth plans.

Debra Borchardt: One of your other menu expansions is with the juice. Can we talk about the additional juices you've added?

James White: We've very focused. We've had a couple pilot locations that are California-based, today, that reflect the expanded juice offering. We've added items to the menu, like kale and beets and ginger to really broaden our fresh juice offering. We've already had the largest fresh juice offering, with 800 locations delivering fresh juice, historically, but that expansion, we think, will cement us as the leader in this space. We'll combine with that, early this year, an overall refresh and remodel capital expansion that'll have us at about 100 of those expanded juice locations the first half of 2013, so we're excited about it.

Debra Borchardt: What's your favorite item on the menu?

James White: It's moving a little bit but the favorite food product is our steel-cut oatmeal, is my favorite food item on the menu. I have, in my hand, our Aloha Pineapple but I'm becoming a big fan of our fresh juices, either with kale or beets.

Debra Borchardt: Well, it sounds like you're getting all his fruits and veggies in a smoothie. I wish my mom would have had a choice like this when I was little.

--Written by Debra Borchardt in New York.



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