How We Started A $115 Million Açai Empire Called Playa Bowls | The Ground Up

In May 2014, Rob Giuliani, 40, and Abby Taylor, 33, began crafting açai bowls from their food cart on the side of Ocean Avenue in Belmar, New Jersey. Inspired by their surf travels in Costa Rica, the two were motivated to bring beachgoers a healthier food option, with their own Jersey twist.

They decided to invest $7,000 into the business and launch in front of a pizzeria and their apartment on the side of the road near the beach. Business was slow to start, but they decided to do some guerrilla marketing and go on the beach to pass out flyers to beachgoers to get the word out. Soon after, long lines started to form in front of the cart and people were enjoying the bowls and smoothies.

It wasn’t until a year later that Giuliani and Taylor were offered a storefront that they would transform into their beachfront paradise. They weren't charged for the first year, however the building was in bad shape. Rob used his network of friends to help him renovate the space in 17 days, get the approval sticker from the inspector, and open the storefront for Fourth of July weekend.

Playa Bowls, now with around 200 locations across the United States, specializes in bowls and smoothies made from the super fruits açai and pitaya. The chain is valued between $115 million and $150 million with plans for expanding even further in states such as Alabama, Tennessee and Rhode Island.

00:00 – Intro
00:33 – What is Playa Bowls?
01:36 – Life Growing Up
02:02 - Going To College
02:52 - Meeting For The First Time
03:13 - Getting The Idea For Playa Bowls
04:52 - Launching The Eatery
05:56 - A Rocky Start
07:39 - Business Picking Up
09:37 - Opening The First Storefront
11:30 - Growing On Social Media
12:30 - Deciding To Franchise
13:47 - Hiring Executives To Grow
14:28 - Receiving A Majority Investment
15:17 - Leaving A Legacy
15:52 - Outro

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#health #food #acaibowl

[tl]

Ask anyone who worked in the early days what a nightmare these 2 were. Fighting in manager group chats about their personal lives. And then they added Gary to really make everyone miserable lol

[flavialima]

When the boy says "I can't be here educating surgeons on how to do their job" … "We were pioneers of acai bowls (in 2014!)". 🤣🤣🤣

[joewj]

I'm convinced...people will buy anything perceived as healthy and you don't need a good idea..just good advertising and good implementation.

[paolabueso]

Love this!! They make a great team. It’s cool that they were able to make it work and continue to have an amicable relationship. Thank you for sharing this!

[alleytee]

I have been wanting to get in on a Playa Bowl Franchise - but goodness just to have one is $600, 000+… need an Angel investor. But my dream is to own a Playa Bowl.. So great to see this ❤

[PSUJerseyGirl]

I go to the original shop all the time when at the beach in Belmar. I just love this stuff.

[omglivetv]

I order from Playa Bowls every morning in Montclair NJ. so convenient

[KarlYoung]

Stop. They are NOT pioneers of Acai bowl - these shops are EVERYWHERE in Brazil and bowls/smoothies have been offered in America way before this business started.

[Petitmaria]

To claim that you pioneered an ingredient on a product you didn’t invent is wild

[Mike-wcns]

What a great story. Congrats to you guys!!!

[henrytorresvlogs]

This is dope I’m a real estate developer that started as a construction superintendent project manager. I would like to make a video like this for my restaurant but I want to show the ground up of building a franchise step by step. Jersey stand up !!!

[gineenspring]

Wow! You really expanded, this is Cool!

Maybe a video on Franchising next.

[HernanHH]

I wonder what happened with that 33% partnership with the original franchise guy

[fmitchell]

I eat Playa Bowls in Chestnut Hill twice a week. I love it!

[TonyMiguel-kocz]

Who gonna tell them Nutella is italian

[carmenjaniratarafacortes]

11:00
Que civilizados
That’s what educated people do
Congratulations in your business journey, in your happy partnership as friends and even more in your marriages ❤️❤️❤️❤️

[Ceah]

Açai also grows in Suriname 🇸🇷. A small country above Brazil. Surinamese eat it for breakfast regularly.

[Gogalen]

The secret - The stuff is being sold on the NJ shore not the smoky mountains of WV.

[eduardobastos]

BRAZILIANS STARTED PUTTING ALL THOSE INGREDIENTS IN AÇAI BOWLS AGES BEFORE THOSE GUYS omg

[BuzzMediaUS]

There's always hard work involved in a start-up, but it's not that impressive making this much money when you overcharge for your product. Nowadays people are becoming non-consumers so a product like this is the first to be taken out of one's budget.