Inventure Foods Inc., Phoenix, a marketer and manufacturer of specialty food brands under a variety of company-owned and licensed brand names, launched Jamba Red Fusion and Blue Fusion Fruit & Veggie Smoothies at retail stores. The Jamba brand is owned by Jamba Juice Co., Emeryville Calif.
The new at-home smoothies join the Jamba Green Fusion fruit-and-vegetable blend, which was introduced to grocery stores last summer.
"The smoothie has evolved from simple fruit and yogurt blends to full-on functional beverages featuring spinach, kale and other veggies that boost nutritional value," said Steve Sklar, senior vice president of marketing for Inventure Foods Inc., in a statement. "Unfortunately, this functional approach often comes at the expense of taste. That's not the case with our Fusion line of at-home smoothie kits. In fact, these are some of the best-tasting smoothies we've ever developed, and they also happen to be dairy free."
Blue Fusion features blueberry, banana, apple, blackberry, carrot, broccoli and spinach ingredients, and Red Fusion blends red raspberry, strawberry, dark sweet cherry, purple carrot and sweet potato ingredients. Both dairy-free smoothie blends provide a full serving of fruit with 130 calories or fewer in each 8-ounce serving. Each serving also provides 100 percent of the recommended dietary allowance (RDA) for vitamin C, 40 percent of the RDA for vitamin A, and 25 percent of the RDA for vitamins B1, B6, D, E, and K.
Jamba Blue Fusion and Red Fusion will begin to appear in the frozen section of grocery stores this month with widespread distribution expected in June. The smoothie kits have a suggested retail price between $2.99 and $3.99 for an 8-ounce bag. Each package contains frozen fruit and vegetable blocks that, when blended with one cup of apple juice, make two 8-ounce servings, the company explains.