Booster Juice Inc. is a Canadian chain of juice and smoothie bars founded in 1999. The chain specializes in smoothies made of pure

juice Juice is a drink made from the extraction or pressing of the natural liquid contained in fruit and vegetables. It can also refer to liquids that are flavored with concentrate or other biological food sources, such as meat or seafood, such as ...

, fruit

sorbet Sorbet (), also called "water ice", is a frozen dessert made using ice combined with fruit juice, fruit purée, wine, liqueur, honey, etc. Generally sorbets do not contain dairy ingredients, while sherbets do. Etymology The word "sorbet" en ...

or vanilla

frozen yogurt Frozen yogurt (also known as frogurt or by the tradename Froyo; ) is a frozen dessert made with yogurt and sometimes other dairy and non-dairy products. Frozen yogurt is a frozen product containing the same basic ingredients as ice cream, but c ...

, frozen fruit, fresh

yogurt Yogurt (; , from tr, yoğurt, also spelled yoghurt, yogourt or yoghourt) is a food produced by bacterial fermentation of milk. The bacteria used to make yogurt are known as ''yogurt cultures''. Fermentation of sugars in the milk by these bac ...

and ice. Founded in Sherwood Park,

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

by owner and CEO Dale Wishewan, the chain quickly expanded through franchising to 375 locations in Canada, one in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, one in the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia ( The Middle East). It is located at t ...

, two in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

and three in

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. It set a Canadian record for opening 50 stores in the first two years of operation.

History

Dale Wishewan opened the first Booster Juice in 1999, when he realized the market for juice bars in Canada. Prior to opening the first Booster Juice, Wishewan tested the idea at his home by offering smoothies to family and neighbours. Shortly afterwards, the first Booster Juice location opened in November 1999 in Sherwood Park, a community located east of

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

. Dale Wishewan has remained the President and CEO of Booster Juice. Booster Juice expanded to other regions Canada, although the bulk of its stores continue to be located in

Western Canada Western Canada, also referred to as the Western provinces, Canadian West or the Western provinces of Canada, and commonly known within Canada as the West, is a Canadian region that includes the four western provinces just north of the Canada� ...

. Encouraged by this success, franchises expanded internationally in the 2000s.

Controversies

In January 2019,

Alberta Health Services Alberta Health Services (AHS) which is headquartered in Edmonton, Alberta is the single health authority for the Canadian province of Alberta and the "largest integrated provincial health care system" in Canada. AHS delivers medical care on beh ...

released a report that found chemicals, cleansers and other agents being used improperly at a Calgary Booster Juice. They found that fruits and vegetables were being washed in Sani Stuff disinfectant – a product designed for institutional cleaning. In a personal statement, CEO Dale Wishewan emphasized that this was a single case incident and they are looking into a retraining programming on the cleaning procedure.

References

External links

*
Official site
{{Edmonton Corporations Drink companies of Canada Companies based in Edmonton Restaurants established in 1999 Fast-food chains of Canada Privately held companies of Canada 1999 establishments in Alberta Yogurt companies Juice bars Food and drink companies based in Alberta