Life On The Job


Life on the Job

Janine Allis - Franchisor - Founder, CEO & Managing Director of Boost Juice

Portrait of Janine Allis

Janine Allis (born 1965) is an Australian businesswoman who is the founder of Boost Juice and part-owner of Retail Zoo, which is the parent company of Boost Juice, Salsa's Fresh Mex Grill and Cibo Espresso.

Allis started Boost Juice from her home in 2000. The first Boost Juice store was located in Adelaide, South Australia, and the franchise is now in 14 countries.

Allis appeared as a "shark" on the Australian version of the TV show Shark Tank. Apart from her directorship with Retail Zoo, Allis is also a Director of Michael Hill Jeweller. She is also the author of the book The Accidental Entrepreneur - The Juicy Bits ISBN 978-0-7303-2773-8.

In 2019, Allis competed in the sixth season of Australian Survivor. She was eliminated on Day 44 and finished in sixth place.
(Source: Wikipedia)

Kiosk
(Source: Toothpicks Creative)

Introduction

I was born in the Ferntree Gully Hospital, in the east of Melbourne. I was raised in the semi rural (at the time) suburb of Knoxfield in a very small house. I shared a bedroom with my two sisters. I was the youngest of four children.

I went to a tech college called Knox Technical College. It no longer exists. The school was very casual, we called the teachers by their first name and there were no uniforms. I finished there at 16. I loved playing Netball.

My passion was to travel the world, I knew that there was more to life than the little suburb I was living in. This adventure took me from being a camp counselor in San Francisco to being a nanny in France and a stewardess on David Bowie’s yacht. I returned to Australia 7 years later as a single Mum with a 2 year old boy.

Returning to Australia, I met and married ‘the one’ Jeff and we founded Boost Juice in 2000 when I was 32.  (Source: Janine Allis & The Examined Life Video)

Experiences & Opportunities

Allis started working at the age of 17 as a media assistant at advertising agency McCann-Erickson. She went on to do modelling as well as working as an assistant gym manager. Her early career also included roles such as a nanny in France, a promotions executive in Portugal as well as a camp counsellor in the USA. Allis has also worked as a stewardess on David Bowie's yacht, a senior manager for a Singapore cinema chain, a publicist for United International Pictures, a publisher, an author, and a touring agent for USA comedians. (Source: Wikipedia)

Finding the gap

A trip to the US with her husband and three children saw the birth of the idea for Boost.

As a time-poor mother, she was constantly frustrated with the lack of quick and healthy food options. “Most ideas start with, ‘Wouldn’t it be good if ‘, right? Like, ‘Wouldn’t it be good if I had a wallet that could work with my iPhone, so I didn’t have to have a wallet and an iPhone?’ ‘Wouldn’t it be good if, when I went out, I had other choices other than just chips or fries or whatever?’” she says.

“So we went over [to the US], and I saw the category of the juice and I thought that was a healthy option. I didn’t like what I saw in America. I didn’t think it fitted with how I would see a healthy concept being. So I really came back with a smoothie and juice concept in my head, and then literally got the computer out, typed the words ‘business plan’ and off I went.”

She coupled this original idea with an insatiable competitive spirit. From here her idea quickly progressed to reality.
(Source: MarketingMag)

Boost

All of Allis’ knowledge and skills came from on-the- job learning and a natural business mindset.

“My business course was my business. I had a very curious mind and I had the ability to fix things quickly, and problem solving, and puzzles. That’s how my brain worked, which I didn’t realise at the time, particularly because I was just having too much fun at 16 to really find out what the hell my brain was doing,” she says. “That worked out really well for starting a business from scratch with the systems and processes and everything else that’s required to do a business.”

Allis and her husband opened the first store in Adelaide in 2000.

As she lived in Melbourne, she got her father-in- law to sit out the front of the prospect store site to get a handle on the foot traffic and demographic. She admits their naivety and inexperience in retail led to countless mistakes.

“We did probably a terrible negotiation and it was a crap site. The site itself was OK, but it was a Heritage building, so we couldn’t get air-conditioning to it and Adelaide’s really hot. So you know, there were certainly a lot of lessons in that one.”

Allis puts the buzz around the brand in its early days in Adelaide down to their strong radio campaigns. She utilised her husband’s background in radio and pursued a blanket campaign with SA FM.

“It had like a 72.3% reach of our target market, which is just unheard of. Nothing has that, so we really leveraged that. We were driving in there at six o’clock in the morning giving them smoothies and wheat grass, and really became a friend to the station to try and get people talking about it. It was good in that respect and we had people coming for kilometres for our smoothies and juices because there was just nothing like it, and Adelaide was the first thing. We had long queues, and we couldn’t go wrong.”  (Source: MarketingMag)


After her success in growing her juice business, Allis and her husband decided to diversify their operations by forming a holding company in 2007 called Retail Zoo which they use to acquire and grow other retail food chains.

The first chain that Retail Zoo acquired was the four-outlet Mexico food chain called Salsa's Fresh Mex Grill in 2007. In 2012, Retail Zoo acquired the 20-outlet Cibo Espresso for AU$15 million. In 2014, Retail Zoo start an American-style hamburger diner chain called Betty's Burgers & Concrete Company.

In 2010, the Riverside Company purchased an equity stake in Retail Zoo for an undisclosed amount with Allis remaining in charge. Four years later, Riverside sold their stake to Bain Capital. After the acquisition, Bain owned 70% of the company while Allis owns the rest. (Source: Wikipedia)

What were three big events – in the family circle or on the world stage or in your reading life, for example – you can now say, had a great effect on you and influenced you in your career path?

• Meeting David Puttnam (producer of Chariots of Fire, Midnight Express, Killing Fields ) on a boat in the Caribbean.

• It was David Puttnam, who was a friend of David Bowie (Janine worked on David Bowie’s yacht), who introduced me to the CEO of Village Roadshow, which stated my career in retail.

• From there I met my husband who is the most influential person in my life.
(Source: Booktopia)

Did You Know?

From the kitchen table in her Melbourne home in 2000 to 175 Boost Juice stores in Australia and New Zealand within 4 years, Janine Allis is just one of Australia’s triumphant stories. In their first 5 years, Boost Juice achieved a phenomenal 95% consumer awareness rating.

By 2007, Boost was in UK, Chile, Kuwait, Singapore, Indonesia and Thailand and succeeded growing their bottom line by over 20% through the GFC. Concurrently, Janine went on to acquire four Salsas Fresh Mex Grill stores in 2007, expanding out to nearly 50 stores with a new store opening every 6 weeks during 2012 and basking in a 7% growth in sales in all financial years from 2009 – 2012. 18 years later, she has added Retail Zoo, CIBO, Expresso, Shark Tank Investor, Michael Hill and author to her accolades and you can see why she is a testament to how one person, a kitchen table and unwavering passion will take you to new heights.
(Source: Franchise Simply)

 

"Boost Juice bars is one of the largest juice bars in the world. With over 500 stores in 14 countries. My vision was to “do retailing differently”, delivering a unique customer experience based on the “love life” philosophy and along the way getting more fruit and vegetables in people’s diet, which we are achieving, with over 2 million smoothies or juices sold every month.

I feel honoured to have received numerous retail, franchise and business awards including Telstra Business Women of the Year, Amex Retailer of the Year, Awarded Exporter of the Year and BRW named me one of fifteen people to have helped change the way Australia does business over the last 35 years.

Over the years we have expanded the Australian business incorporating other brands under the retail entity Retail Zoo this includes: Salsas Fresh Mex Grill, CIBO Espresso, the Italian espresso bar franchise that has wowed Adelaide for 17 years, the very cool Betty’s Burgers & CONCRETE CO. Retail Zoo has over 600 stores and almost 7000 people working across the four businesses for which I am now a Director.

I’m a working mother of four, best selling author of “The Accidental Entrepreneur”, a Shark on Channel TEN’s Shark Tank, a champion contestant on Australian Survivor Season 4 and co-host of the 5 star rated podcast “Superwomen we ain’t”.

My life is hectic so I understand firsthand the demands the world can put on an individual! I’m an advocate for a healthy lifestyle – I maintain a daily yoga practice, am a very average surfer, horse rider and tennis player… but love doing all of it…" (Source: Janine Allis)

Eating well
(Source: JJanine Allis)

 

Awards

2018 - Excellence in Franchise Innovation - Franchise Council of Australia; Excellence in International Franchising - Franchise Council of Australia

2017 - Inside Retail - Innovation Initiative of the Year Award; LinkedIn - Named as a "LinkedIn Influencer"

2016 - CSIA - Australian Service Excellence Award Friendly Award; National Retail Award - Innovation Excellence Awards - Winner

2015 - Honorary Member - Key International Honour Society; Business Award - InStyle and Audi Women of Style Awards; Excellence in Women's Leadership: Victoria The Australian Business Awards; Australian Established Franchisor of the Year - Boost Juice Bars MYOB FCA Excellence in Franchising Awards; Excellence in International Franchising - Boost Juice International MYOB FCA Excellence in Franchising Awards; Franchise Hall of Fame Inductee - MYBO FCA Excellence in Franchising Awards

2012 - Australian Export Heroes Award - Export Council of Australia

2011 - Finalist - Fast 100 BRW

2010 - International Francise Award - Franchise Council of Australia

2007 - Franchise Award - National Retailers Association Awards - BOQ

2005 - Franchisor of the Year - Finalist Price Waterhouse Coopers; Women in Franchising - Finalist Price Waterhouse Coopers; International Women's Award - Finalist Verve Cliquot; Franchisor of the Year Award - Victoria Price Waterhouse Coopers; Woman of the Year in Franchising - Price Waterhouse Coopers

2004 - Victorian Business Woman of the Year - Telstra; Woman of the Year Telstra

 

Links

Janine Allis

Website

Marketing Mag 10 April 2014

Marketing mag
Booktopia 11 April 2013

Booktopia
 

YouTube: Janine Allis on The Project
https://youtu.be/2jYPl-4vR9w

 

YouTube: Boost Juice founder Janine Allis on 3AW Mornings
https://youtu.be/Ah2auGn1P7Y

 

YouTube: Janine Allis - Wired for Wonder 2018
https://youtu.be/s0B1KjVWRjI

 

 

YouTube: The Examined Life with Matt Purcell
Janine Allis - $2 to $2 billion, Boost Juice, Humble Beginnings PART 1

https://youtu.be/8KDfKKpDscE

 

YouTube: /strong> The Examined Life with Matt Purcell
Janine Allis - Entrepreneurs, Why Most People Don't Go The Distance PART 2
https://youtu.be/EV1x2prezZY

 

YouTube: Top Four Traits of Successful Franchisors: Boost Juice Founder Janine Allis
https://youtu.be/oSUo8ZCotaY

 

 

YouTube: Janine Allis - A snapshot of my presentation at Women in Leadership / Business Event
https://youtu.be/6LQsrv-QNS8

 

 

Activities

A new Boost drink? Your Pitch to Janine

PrimaryPrimary MiddleMiddle  High SchoolSecondary

NumeracyAustralian Curriculum General Capability: Numeracy
Critical
Australian Curriculum General Capability: Critical and creative thinking
Personal and social capability
Australian Curriculum General Capability:
Personal and social capability

Cooperative LearningCooperative Learning Activity

 

1. Currently [2020], Boost Juice has 43 different types of juices. Look at and study these different types of juices.

In an Excel spreadsheet, list all the juices and their

  • Energy (kJ and Cal)

  • Fat

  • Carbohydrate

  • Dietary fibre

  • Protein

  • Fat

  • Sugars

  • Sodium

2. Which juice has the highest fibre? The highest protein? Lowest sugars? Highest kJ? Which juice in your opinion is the "best" in terms of nutrients? Why? Give reasons. Share with a partner.

3. Are all the juices "healthy"? Explain to a group of 4 students.

4. If possible, you are to go to a Boost Juice Bar and copy down the cost for each medium drink. Put these prices into your Excel spreadsheet.

5. Analyse

Analyse. Which is the cheapest? Which is the dearest? Which is the best priced juice? Share with a partner.

6. You are now to create a new juice. One that you and your fellow students would enjoy and spend their money on. 

7. List the ingredients of your new juice. Make up the recipe quantities [how much milk? ice? fruit? vegs?]

8. Work out the cost per drink from the cost of the ingredients/recipe. Calculate the cost of the drink in the Boost Bar - knowing that in business the ingredients cost around 30% of the total cost. Is your new juice within the cost range that you and your fellow students could afford? Do you need to make any adjustments to your ingredients or portions?

9. Test this drink.
  
Make this drink and get the class to rate it out of 10 for taste and appearance. Just a small "shot" glass will do for this tasting. Compare with other class mates' drinks.

10. Once you have worked out the cost, you now need to sell this new juice to Janine. You need to

  • create a poster with the juice portrayed as Janine's Drinks page - showing ingredients; and the nutritional values.
      
  • show your final costings and the profit that will be made from this drink

  • show the response from your testing

  • create a 1 minute "pitch" similar to what Janine is used to from The Shark Tank.

 

 

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Material sourced from
 Janine Allis
Peoplepill [Janine Allis; ]
Marketing Mag [Janine Allis; ]
Wikipedia

The Examined Life Video
MarketingMag
Booktopia

 

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