From Fitness to 150 Stores: How the 80% Nutrition Rule Built Pure Green's Franchise
Table of Contents
The 80% Nutrition Rule: From Fitness to Founding Pure Green
Pure Green's Core: Superfoods, Mission, and Rapid Growth
The Unchanging Vision: Building Healthier Communities
Scaling Smart: Overcoming Franchise Challenges
Cultivating Consistency: The Power of Our Franchise Partner Culture
AI, Personalization, and Smart Expansion
Own a Pure Green Franchise
Nutrition drives 80% of health results. That’s what I’ve seen again and again, and it’s why I started Pure Green. I took this idea from one juice bar to over 150 stores and stayed laser-focused on mission-driven franchising every step of the way.
Recently, I had the opportunity to share more about this journey as a guest on the ASCEND Growth AI podcast hosted by Theresa.
Theresa Batiller (Ascend Growth AI)
We discussed how I grew Pure Green from one location to 150+, the lessons along the way, and how AI is helping shape the future of wellness and food service.
The 80% Nutrition Rule: From Fitness to Founding Pure Green
I founded Pure Green in 2014, but before that, I worked in the fitness industry. I owned a health club, sold it, and started a consulting business. I helped launch gym chains across the country and later worked with yoga and Pilates studios. That eventually led to juice bars.
Through all of that, I gained a better understanding of what helps people improve their health.
Fitness alone wasn’t enough. People achieved the best results when they also changed their eating habits.
That’s when I decided to focus on nutrition. I started Pure Green to make it easier for people to access high-quality, convenient nutrition.
In my experience, about 80% of health results come from nutrition.
That idea became the foundation of Pure Green.
Pure Green's Core: Superfoods, Mission, and Rapid Growth
Today, Pure Green is expanding rapidly. We have grown to about 150 stores in total, which include:
70 open Locations
Sites currently in selection
Stores in development
The newly opened Pure Green Michigan Avenue location.
We are expanding quickly, adding about three to five new stores every single month.
At Pure Green, we are dedicated to providing the highest quality wellness options, which include:
Superfood smoothies
Acai and pitaya bowls
Cold-pressed juices and juice shots
Our mission drives everything we do: to build healthier communities around the globe by connecting people with superfoods.
At Pure Green, we don't see them as customers. We call them guests because when people come into the store, the goal is to treat them like you treat a guest in your own home.
It’s about building a connection, not just completing a transaction.
Pure Green is designed to be an inclusive brand. It is for everyone who wants a healthier lifestyle. Whether we're serving:
Students on a college campus
Busy executives in a corporate area
Families in a residential neighborhood
Our ideal guest is simply anyone looking to embrace a healthier lifestyle.
We cast a very wide net because, ultimately, who doesn't want to be healthy?
The Unchanging Vision: Building Healthier Communities
Our vision started with our first store, driven by a deep passion for health and a mission to build healthier communities.
We began franchising in 2020. What began as my personal mission has grown into a company-wide movement embraced by our entire corporate team and every franchise partner.
That is the beauty of franchising. We’re united in the mission to build healthier communities worldwide.
"It sounds like it stayed true to the original vision, which is fantastic." - Theresa Batiller
Theresa is right. Our vision has not changed. Only the number of amazing people helping carry it forward.
Scaling Smart: Overcoming Franchise Challenges
Scaling through franchising comes with challenges. In the beginning, there is much you simply don’t know. For us, our mission has always been our guiding force.
One of the biggest challenges is identifying the right franchise partners.
The best partners:
Share a passion for health and wellness
Are deeply aligned with Pure Green's mission
If we ever let someone into the system who isn't well-aligned, that’s when problems arise. We realized early on that we had to be very careful and raise our standards. We now only allow individuals who are genuinely passionate about wellness into our system.
Another crucial lesson is the importance of the franchise owner's presence in the store, especially in the early months, to truly establish a healthy lifestyle within the community.
“The best franchise partners are people who are passionate about health and wellness. When the franchise owner is present in the store, that’s where the magic happens.”
Franchise partner Parvaneh (fourth from the right, standing behind the seated group), inside her Pure Green Portland store surrounded by guests.
While everyone initially tells you what you want to hear, we had instances where owners weren't present after the grand opening.
We learned that passion for wellness isn't enough; commitment to being present is vital.
We believe a store's success is a direct reflection of its leadership.
That’s when team members perform at their best, and those fundamental relationships that drive guest frequency are built.
Identifying these criteria for an incredible franchise partner has been a significant challenge we've overcome.
We now have prospective franchisees:
Meet with existing partners
Get a feel for the day-to-day responsibilities
Receive feedback from current partners who are protective of the brand
It truly feels like joining a family, and we take their input very seriously.
Cultivating Consistency: The Power of Our Franchise Partner Culture
Keeping all our Pure Green locations consistent is incredibly important, and it all comes back to our strong culture.
Our franchise partners do more than work together. They:
Quickly become good friends
Regularly support each other
Compete in a friendly way to improve performance
What makes our culture unique is that new franchise partners quickly realize they are not alone.
They gain access to a broad, supportive network of peers who are ready to answer questions and offer advice.
One of the defining strengths of Pure Green is the unwavering commitment our partners have to one another. I witnessed this powerful connection at our recent summit, where collaboration, shared purpose, and mutual support are evident.
We are genuinely lucky to have such a unified and committed group of partners.
AI, Personalization, and Smart Expansion
AI is making waves in the food and beverage industry, and at Pure Green, we are embracing it fully.
After our Annual Growth Summit, we used AI to reconcile complex event agreements, saving time and avoiding overcharges. Every new agreement now runs through AI.
We’re also exploring:
A role-play platform for team training
AI-powered intranet to help partners find information
Assessment tools to evaluate team performance
We want to stay ahead of the curve.
Our new loyalty app uses AI-driven personalization. Guests can customize their preferences.
The system learns ordering habits and sends custom offers, like "$2 off your favorite bowl."
Guests feel less rushed in the app and are more likely to add upgrades such as collagen or chia seeds. Loyalty tiers reward frequent visits with perks like free add-ons and swag.
Our expansion plan is big but careful. Within six months, we expect to hit 100 open stores. That’s a franchise milestone that improves food costs and boosts brand recognition.
Beyond 100, growth should accelerate and benefit every franchise partner.
But we won’t rush. We continue hiring great people and scaling our HQ team to support growth the right way.
The biggest challenge? Store culture. When the franchise partner is present, stores thrive.
That presence builds the culture needed to eventually hand off daily operations and open more locations.
We’re testing AI to reduce time on tasks like inventory, which can take over an hour. Soon, AI may even optimize schedules based on traffic data.
When that happens, it’ll be a game-changer.
Own a Pure Green Franchise
From one health club to a national franchise, Pure Green’s success comes down to one thing: nutrition drives results.
We’ve stayed focused on our mission, building healthier communities and delivering clean, functional nutrition.
As we grow, invest in culture, and integrate smart tech, that mission only gets stronger.
If you’re passionate about wellness and want to make a difference in your community, let’s talk.
Visit puregreenfranchise.com to learn how you can open your own Pure Green location.
We’re just getting started and we’d love to grow with you.
