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LOS ANGELES, Calif. and SUNNYVALE, Calif. – July 26, 2022 – Blendid®, a robotic food service solutions leader, and Jamba®, a global lifestyle brand leader serving on-the-go freshly blended fruit and vegetable smoothies, made-to-order bowls, fresh-squeezed juices and shots, boosts and bites, today announced plans to expand Jamba by Blendid autonomous robotic kiosk locations to UCLA, building on their continued work to bring delicious, freshly made smoothies to more college campuses. The third college to open a Jamba by Blendid kiosk, the UCLA location will open this summer in preparation for the 2022-2023 school year in partnership with Associated Students UCLA (ASUCLA).
“We think our Bruins will love being able to order plant-forward smoothies from their phones and then watch a robot prepare their customized orders,” said Cindy Bolton, Director of ASUCLA Food Operations. “We’re excited to finalize details for the official opening and to see how robotics and artificial intelligence technologies can help our food service operations keep pace with student and faculty needs.”
Gaining traction at college campuses, Jamba by Blendid kiosks are quickly becoming a coveted addition to campus meal offerings. Leveraging Blendid’s contactless food automation platform, foodOS®, a patented machine learning, robotics, and artificial intelligence-enabled system, the Jamba by Blendid kiosk at the UCLA campus will be accessible seven days a week to provide a fresh and delicious option for students and faculty.
“Our robotic smoothie kiosks provide a new way for college campuses around the country to meet students’ demand for fresh and nutritious on-the-go food options – where and when they want it,” said Vipin Jain, CEO and co-founder of Blendid. “As we look to expand to even more colleges and universities, I’d love to see Jamba by Blendid kiosks become a standard food service option across U.S. college campuses in the years ahead.”
Blendid has grown its stronghold in the college market over the years. Prior to teaming up with Jamba to launch Jamba by Blendid robotic kiosks, Blendid had a presence on two college campuses – University of San Francisco and Sonoma State University. The first two college-based Jamba by Blendid kiosks opened in early 2022 at Georgia College (Milledgeville, GA) and Kennesaw State University (Marietta, GA). UCLA is the first California university to open a Jamba by Blendid robotic kiosk.
“Jamba is thrilled to bring Jamba by Blendid smoothies to UCLA’s campus and expand our college footprint,” said Geoff Henry, President of Jamba. “Colleges have always been a strong market for Jamba and have proved particularly successful with our Jamba by Blendid kiosks as tech-savvy college consumers embrace new robotic solutions.”
More details on the final kiosk location and offerings on campus will be made available as plans are finalized.
About ASUCLA
Founded in 1919, Associated Students UCLA (ASUCLA) is a nonprofit association that drives vitally essential student services and activities throughout the UCLA campus. ASUCLA boasts the largest college store in the U.S., an extensive food program, UCLA® brand licensing programming through UCLA Trademarks & Licensing, and other services and programs that include student government and student media, which significantly enhances the quality of UCLA’s campus life. For more information about ASUCLA, visit asucla.ucla.edu.
About Jamba
Jamba is the global lifestyle brand leader serving on-the-go freshly blended fruit and vegetable smoothies, made-to-order bowls, fresh-squeezed juices and shots, boosts and bites. Jamba has more than 850 locations operating in 36 U.S. states, as well as the Philippines, Taiwan, South Korea, Thailand and Japan. For more information and to stay connected, follow @JambaJuice on Twitter and Instagram or visit jamba.com.
About Blendid
Sunnyvale-based Blendid is revolutionizing the future of food service with its proprietary food automation platform (foodOS™), which efficiently and safely prepares and serves a range of healthy, fresh, and delicious food. A pioneer of the future of food service, Blendid’s first concept in the market is an autonomous, contactless kiosk that uses robotics, machine vision, artificial intelligence, and healthy ingredients to create delicious smoothies that are customized to meet the unique health and dietary preferences of each consumer. Founded in 2015 by seasoned Silicon Valley entrepreneurs Vipin Jain, Venki Avalur, and Vijay Dodd, Blendid is improving the consumer experience by offering safe, cost-effective, and personalized food on-demand, while also reducing complexities and costs for the operators. Blendid has raised more $20M to date from a mix of venture and crowdfunding investors and is currently raising its Series B investment round. Visit https://invest.blendid.com/ for more information and to invest in the future of food service automation.
