From Mixology to Fresh Juice (03:10)

“I hired two mixologists and said, here are my dream flavors.”

Sharon explains how a gap in the beverage market inspired her to create a fresh fruit-based concept built around flavor, customization, and presentation.

Creating a Healthy Indulgence (01:49)

“People come in and feel they’re getting a healthy indulgence.”

SIP Fresh Juice positions itself between health-conscious choices and fun beverage experiences, giving guests both nutrition and enjoyment.

Why Sampling Drives Discovery (05:07)

“Our stores will engage you and have you sample it.”

Sharon discusses how removing barriers to trial helps guests discover new flavors and creates stronger brand engagement.

Human Connection Still Matters (07:35)

“I struggle every time I see kiosks as an order vehicle.”

While acknowledging the convenience of technology, Sharon explains why personal interaction remains central to the SIP Fresh Juice experience.

Creating a Mercedes Experience (10:34)

“They came in for a Chevrolet and they’re leaving with a Mercedes.”

For Sharon, every guest interaction should exceed expectations regardless of the size of the purchase.

Who Deserves an Ovation? (12:04)

“I don’t know how they do it, but the consistency every single time you go is remarkable.”

Sharon highlights Hillstone Restaurant Group for its operational consistency and also reflects on her early experiences helping grow Wetzel’s Pretzels.

Links:

https://www.instagram.com/sipfresh/?hl=en

https://www.linkedin.com/in/sharon-arthofer-4a646329/

https://www.linkedin.com/company/sip-fresh-franchise/

https://www.sipfreshjuice.com/

Transcript

00:00:00:18 – 00:00:25:20

Zack Oates

Welcome to another edition of Give an Ovation, the Restaurant Guest Experience podcast. I’m your host, Zack Oates, and each week I chat with industry experts to uncover their strategies and tactics to help you create a five star guest experience. This podcast is powered by ovation, the AI feedback and operations platform built for multi-unit restaurants. Learn what’s actually happening in your restaurants and exactly how to improve while driving revenue.

00:00:25:20 – 00:00:46:16

Zack Oates

And today we have Sharon Arthofer with us, and she is the founder and CEO of SIP Fresh Juice. And we are starting this podcast so late because we hopped on and then all of a sudden after 30s ten minutes were gone of chatting. Sharon, this is the first time we’re meeting, but you’ve got such a great energy about you and so glad you.

00:00:46:17 – 00:00:48:21

Zack Oates

Thanks for taking some time to come on the podcast.

00:00:48:23 – 00:00:57:22

Sharon Arthofer

Thank you. Thank you for inviting me. I’m honored and I know that I think Jim Mises introduced us. He introduced us, and it’s a pleasure being here. So thank you.

00:00:57:23 – 00:01:23:08

Zack Oates

Anyone that Jim respects is someone that I immediately have a level ten respect for. So but Sharon, one of the things that we were just talking about was what is SIP fresh? Because I’m someone, I live in Utah, which means I drink a lot of soda. I also love fruit drinks when I don’t want soda. And so talk to me a little bit about SIP Fresh and what it is and how it’s different, because I think that you’ve got some really interesting propositions and love your brand.

00:01:23:08 – 00:01:27:11

Zack Oates

Love the website. I love the photos, but talk to us about SIP Fresh.

00:01:27:13 – 00:01:49:07

Sharon Arthofer

Thank you. Yes. In fact, the more I think about it, the more you and I just chatted. Utah is definitely a great home for us. I hope one day we’re opening soon. Their sip fresh is based on everything is handcrafted, fresh fruit based beverages. So everything we drink or I mean everything we serve at fresh starts with fresh fruit and then we expand from there.

00:01:49:07 – 00:02:13:07

Sharon Arthofer

So the beauty of that is we are unique in our offerings relative to there’s a lot of dirty soda. Go to all of that out there is a treat I would say, or different day parts for us. Everything starts with that fresh fruit. So people come in and feel they’re getting a healthy indulgence. It’s kind of what we call the marriage between good for you and indulgent fun.

00:02:13:08 – 00:02:32:17

Sharon Arthofer

You talk a little bit about some of the beverages you like. One of the things that we make fresh is something called a strawberry lava. So it’s coconut cream, fresh strawberries blended. And then we have our little bits and pieces that we put in there in the recipe, and we serve it up as a blended, delicious fresh strawberry based beverage with coconut.

00:02:32:17 – 00:02:34:11

Sharon Arthofer

And it is yummy.

00:02:34:12 – 00:02:37:09

Zack Oates

Is it like a smoothie or is it more like a drink?

00:02:37:13 – 00:02:57:24

Sharon Arthofer

We call it more, but it’s a specialty smoothie. It would be more like in the specialty smoothie category, but it’s that same indulgent, yummy but fresh that you were discussing a minute ago. So there’s no soda in our beverages. It’s all based on that fresh fruit and then other ingredients to create a really delicious, refreshing beverage.

00:02:58:00 – 00:03:10:12

Zack Oates

And what got you starting on this? I mean, I know that obviously you care about health and that’s really important to you, but why did you look at the market and think sit fresh needs to exist?

00:03:10:14 – 00:03:37:01

Sharon Arthofer

So it was quite a few years ago. We were sitting in a restaurant and we saw these mixologists making these very fancy cocktails, all based with a lot of fresh fruit ingredients or fruit and fuzed, you know, everything was very different than the old poor, the liquor poor, the soda or whatever. It was a lot more complicated and beautiful, which got us thinking, got me thinking, and I started looking around.

00:03:37:02 – 00:04:00:09

Sharon Arthofer

I saw that the beverage industry was growing at the time, and this was 2017. This was a gap there was nothing like based on this cool, fresh fruit. Everything was expanding in a different area, in a different category, more soda based with ingredients, energy drinks, all of that. So I took the opportunity and I hired two mixologists and said, here are my dream flavors.

00:04:00:09 – 00:04:20:00

Sharon Arthofer

If I could have 10 or 12 flavors that I’d put on a bar, which is how our store looks, if you go to our website sit, you’ll see that we set up a big bar in the front, and we have these glass barrels and they’re filled with gallons of juice. So I gave them my wish list. They came up with about 20 recipes.

00:04:20:01 – 00:04:45:02

Sharon Arthofer

We then went to a chef, scaled them up to bigger quantity. You know, not making one at a time. People would be waiting quite a bit. So we made them like 4 to 5 gallon containers and started serving them up that way. And what I found was people loved them. They loved the refreshing. The one thing about SIP Fresh that probably is a little different than most beverage experiences.

00:04:45:04 – 00:05:07:10

Sharon Arthofer

You walk up and you see the product on the bar, so it’s not somebody disappears in the back and makes it. If you want a mango juice, you walk up. Our stores will engage you and have you sample it. So that’s the first experience. Then you decide how many you want to taste. Whatever. We also have the ability for you to mix and match.

00:05:07:12 – 00:05:23:14

Sharon Arthofer

So we provide that great component of being able to customize your drink. I want mango with pineapple today. I want cucumber, mint lime with watermelon today I just want watermelon, whatever it might be. So we really build around that.

00:05:23:15 – 00:05:53:07

Zack Oates

When I looked on the website, it kind of reminded me of like a super high end agua fresca you would find in New Mexico. Like when I went to Puerto Vallarta along the district. Romantic. There you’ve got these, like, giant jugs, agua fresca. But then I thought it was so unique that then you could take these healthy bases, which, because those aqua frescos are not healthy, but you could take these, like, fun juices and add to it as kind of this, like, almost Chipotle style version of it.

00:05:53:07 – 00:05:58:11

Zack Oates

But you still have your set menu of if you don’t know what you want. There’s things you can get.

00:05:58:16 – 00:06:21:19

Sharon Arthofer

Exactly. So we just basically took from that concept, if you will. We liked the presentation but said, hey, let’s elevate this way. Bigger than and our flavors are, are such that we just did a LTO. It was a blueberry milk, so it was fresh blueberries mixed with a creamy milk that we got the 80 oxidants in there. But you also got a refreshing beverage.

00:06:21:19 – 00:06:44:07

Sharon Arthofer

So that’s where we call it the health halo. So we did we elevated it quite a bit. And we offer flavors that are not that are unique. We do a homage granite. It’s delicious. We do fresh lemonades. So we do a lot more than what one would consider agua fresca. And we really have changed how we present. And then we have these fabulous smoothies.

00:06:44:07 – 00:06:52:19

Sharon Arthofer

So we either have specialty smoothies or regular smoothies. And you can add things like protein powder, all those good things for you.

00:06:52:24 – 00:07:08:11

Zack Oates

That’s amazing. So as you thinking about this, because obviously, you know, you go to the brand and it looks just so clean and crisp and you obviously have taken a lot of thought into the guest experience. And so what do you think is the most important aspect of guest experience nowadays?

00:07:08:13 – 00:07:35:20

Sharon Arthofer

That’s a great question because I feel like it’s a moving target depending upon the demographic as well. So I’d say everybody wants and this is interesting speed. They want to get in and out. I think many people want speed, at least in QSR, not in a regular full service restaurant. But from the QSR perspective, they want quality. Everybody wants value, and quality is part of that value proposition, and then they want accuracy and what they ask for.

00:07:35:21 – 00:07:59:10

Sharon Arthofer

And I think those are three key things. What separates us is we really go heavy into the human component. I struggle every time I see kiosks as an order vehicle because it takes away the guest experience. But there is a demographic that likes that. It’s fast. I can get up there, I can place my order and get in and out quickly.

00:07:59:12 – 00:08:13:19

Sharon Arthofer

For us, we’re still married to providing that great interaction. As I said, our stores offer samples of everything. Where else do you go to a beverage store and be able to sample before you drink it?

00:08:13:19 – 00:08:34:12

Zack Oates

I love that because I think especially when people are walking by and there’s that curiosity. But what happens is when the expectations don’t exceed the effort required to try it out, then people are going to walk by, they’re going to pass it up, and they’re like, I don’t know what that is. I don’t want to try it. But when there’s, hey, you could sample this, try it out.

00:08:34:12 – 00:08:52:16

Zack Oates

It’s like the barrier of entry goes down because they’re more open to all right, let’s see what it is. I feel like 90% of people in America first tried orange chicken in a mall right when out with the samples, right. I feel like I don’t know if they do that anymore since Covid, but I have never seen it.

00:08:52:16 – 00:09:10:16

Zack Oates

But that is how I think people were introduced to it because like, wow, this is like really good. And so they went in there and they got it right. But I look at it like with what you’re doing and as you look at your different locations because you have standalone locations, or are they all kind of in line like with in malls and stuff like that?

00:09:10:16 – 00:09:40:02

Sharon Arthofer

Currently they’re in-line malls, and we’re just embarking upon some other opportunities that will take us beyond malls. But we like the mall space. Part of it is I’ve been in the mall space before in my former life as a franchisee. We like that they bring people to the center and we’re an impulse purchase. So we enjoy the fact that there’s going to be a lot of foot traffic in a mall that people will then, exactly as you just stated, they see it.

00:09:40:02 – 00:09:58:20

Sharon Arthofer

That’s the first thing that happened. So that barrier of entry is broken down completely. It’s not like having to walk into four walls. It’s right there. People walk by and see these beautiful barrels and I’m like, yeah, I want to taste that. That looks delicious. There’s fresh fruit floating in it. It’s really yummy. So visually it really draws people in.

00:09:58:20 – 00:10:04:07

Sharon Arthofer

So we like the mall space, but we do want to test some other venues that have high foot traffic as well.

00:10:04:13 – 00:10:26:06

Zack Oates

Do you have any tips for brands that are looking to get into malls? Or maybe they’re in malls trying to think of like, how do I create a great guest experience where an impulse purchase in a mall, it’s not like people are going to the mall just for a drink. I mean, probably they are once they try it, but like for the first time, they’re in the mall to do other things.

00:10:26:06 – 00:10:34:08

Zack Oates

How do you create that guest experience without a place to, like, sit down and really engage with that guest for a long period of time?

00:10:34:12 – 00:11:05:07

Sharon Arthofer

You’re right. It’s that 10s that you make or break, you know, in that very first interaction. I think we really and this has been a philosophy of mine again for 30 years. I’m aging myself here. But if you’re going to be in the retail business, I’m still a true believer in really providing that elevated 120% service and ensuring that people feel, you know, I always joke they came in for and no offense to Chevrolet, they came in for a Chevrolet and they’re leaving with a Mercedes.

00:11:05:07 – 00:11:31:18

Sharon Arthofer

And that’s how they should feel, even if it’s a $7 beverage. And that’s what we try to deliver every time we try to make it a really special experience for those guests. Which is why I’m torn. I’m still looking at that kiosk concept. And do we miss something if we don’t have that interaction? Or maybe we still get that interaction in the sampling phase, and then consider another form of payment as we go down the road.

00:11:31:18 – 00:11:54:01

Sharon Arthofer

But I think really giving people that very special five minutes, you’ve got all my attention. I look at Starbucks, you know, they’ve gone full circle. Now they’re going back to welcome in and writing your name down and have a good day. And they’re they’re going back to basics with regard to spending time and giving guests, you know, that human interaction again.

00:11:54:02 – 00:12:04:18

Zack Oates

Yeah I love that. Well Sharon, I know that you know a lot of people in this industry, but I would love to get your opinion. Who is someone that deserves an ovation? Who’s someone that we should be following?

00:12:04:20 – 00:12:13:19

Sharon Arthofer

I’d say a stand out from me, from a full service restaurant that is the most consistent I’ve ever seen in my life is a company called Hillston.

00:12:13:21 – 00:12:14:19

Zack Oates

Oh yeah.

00:12:14:20 – 00:12:34:08

Sharon Arthofer

I don’t know how they do it, but the consistency every single time you go is remarkable to me. And they’ve been around for a while, so they have a fairly large footprint now and they have different brands. You know there’s Houston’s and I don’t know they have a bunch of them. But I do find them to be quite interesting from a full service perspective.

00:12:34:13 – 00:12:59:19

Sharon Arthofer

I’d say my roots are special to me. I helped a couple of guys launch a brand called Wetzel Pretzels many years ago. They had one store, and then we started to work together a little bit on it, and then I became the first franchisee. And I’d say that started as an impulse brand in a mall. And I think that over the years and over the different ownerships, it’s been an interesting brand to watch.

00:12:59:19 – 00:13:12:09

Sharon Arthofer

With regard to shifting from strictly impulse to really being a brand name that people know and like, and I just think they’ve done a good job over 30 years.

00:13:12:10 – 00:13:29:13

Zack Oates

So I mean, they’re one of the two titans out there. There’s been whittled down to two and they both do a great job. And yeah. And I think that that’s actually as you were talking I was like, man I thinking about your juice and a Wetzel pretzel like that is just like, that would be like my dream lunch right there.

00:13:29:19 – 00:13:38:24

Sharon Arthofer

That would be a good one, actually. You’re right. We should probably be partnering. I still am involved a little bit at Wetzel, so we probably should do something together. There’s definitely.

00:13:39:00 – 00:13:56:24

Zack Oates

A shout out to all our Wetzel Pretzels friends, and I’ve got some good friends that are franchisees over there. And obviously Bill Phelps is good friend. And so I think there’s so many great things that that they’ve done. So incredible that you were there at the ground floor. So, Sharon, how do people find and follow you and Cypress?

00:13:57:00 – 00:14:04:17

Sharon Arthofer

I’m on LinkedIn. You can find us there and you can find sit fresh on LinkedIn. And then.

00:14:04:19 – 00:14:23:00

Sharon Arthofer

If you want to write into us, you can always right into info at SIP Fresh Juice or Sharon. It’s at fresh juice either one. I’ve got a great team, wonderful marketing ops. We’re just we’re really we’re expanding right now. Actually. We’re opening two more units in Arizona.

00:14:23:02 – 00:14:23:19

Zack Oates

Oh, nice.

00:14:23:20 – 00:14:40:06

Sharon Arthofer

I saw that I did not Phoenix and another in Southern California. So we have one going into Chandler Mall and one into Tanger, Westgate in Arizona, Phoenix, and then the Outlets at Orange in Orange County, California. So we’re excited about that. And we’ve got several more coming up down the road.

00:14:40:06 – 00:14:58:12

Zack Oates

So awesome. Well it’s exciting to see your growth sharing. I can’t wait for you to be in Utah. I hopefully am in California or Phoenix before then because I can’t wait to try sip Fresh Out, but for reminding us how to juice it up with the human experience, today’s ovation goes to you. Thank you for joining us on Give an Ovation.

00:14:58:14 – 00:15:00:06

Sharon Arthofer

Thank you so much.

00:15:00:08 – 00:15:22:00

Zack Oates

Thanks for joining us today. If you liked this episode, leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or your favorite place to listen. We’re all about feedback here. Again, this episode was sponsored by ovation, a two question, SMS based, actionable guest feedback platform built for multi-unit restaurants. If you’d like to learn how we can help you measure and create a better guest experience, visit us at ovation.