Fruit shake company celebrates with 380 outlets

From a humble beginning of just a single cart in Manila in February 2002, Fruitas — one of the core brands of Lush Group of Companies (LGC), founded and owned by young entrepreneur Lester Yu — has become one of the most promising fruit shake businesses in the country.

Starting with only a single brand, Fruitas; LGC has successfully grown in the last six years, giving birth to several brands like Buko ni Fruitas, The Mango Farm, and Juice Avenue. Today, the company is enjoying quite an impressive market share, with its brands remarkably selling in key areas nationwide.

The growth of Fruitas is phenomenal as well as inspiring for everyone. According to Lester Yu, it is all the fruit of hardwork, passion, and integrity — three values he holds dearly. Now, with over 400 outlets nationwide, obviously outnumbering the outlets of its direct competitors, Lush Group of Companies is more than proud to see a lot of fulfilled entrepreneurs who have partnered with them. The company currently has more than 100 partners and franchisees, and more than 600 employees. These individuals are manifestations of business success stories amidst the current economic downswing. Business is indeed booming and network profitability is excellent.

Despite the impending global crisis affecting so many businesses, it is amazing to know that with LGC’s Fruitas, there is a bounty of success stories worth drawing inspiration from. “These franchisees are actually very simple people. Hindi sila yung mga sobrang mayayaman. But look at them, they are all happy. Because of hardwork and passion, they are making money,” says Yu. He also cites an article in a major daily showing the per square meter sales of a 7-11 outlet in Japan.

However, with all the sweet returns that Fruitas is reaping right now, Yu admits everything did not come easy. As in any business, there were trying moments when one’s determination was tested. He recalls, “The first three years were difficult for us. Nalulugi kami.” They did not have much resource and they were on the brink of falling. These bumps in the road were met with ingenuity, creativity, marketing astuteness, and most importantly, the passion to make everything work; and LGC began to reap success.

While the company’s current thrust in creating more brands and adding more company-owned outlets in the country, going global is not a far-fetched idea. If opportunity permits, Yu says that China seems perfect for the business because of the country’s huge market and it is a country other than his own that he is most familiar with. Some challenges may have to be dealt with, of course, and this includes logistics, language, and a lot of cultural differences that may have an effect with work management.