• August 27, 2009

To introduce its new Kids' Combo Meals, Tropical Smoothie Café is offering kids its "Big Kahuna" or "Little Surfer" combo free on Sundays between Aug. 30 and Oct. 3, provided an accompanying adult who buys a Paradise Combo.

The Kahuna meal includes a food item, side and 12-ounce Kid's Smoothie; the Surfer a food item, side and 12-ounce soda. The kids' combo meals are one key item on the chain's new kids' menu, which debuted this month.

The chain is also offering organizations that support school programs and other youth activities an opportunity to maximize their charitable efforts through the chain's in-store fund-raising program. The program gives back a portion of Tropical Smoothie sales during a specified time and date to a community organization to fund its activities and events. Interested organizations arrange a time/date with a local restaurant manager, and the restaurant displays customized flyers advertising the fundraiser one week prior to the event. It also provides the organizer with an electronic copy of the flyer to use to print and pass out.

Tropical Smoothie's format offers "a healthy alternative to typical fast food," including real-fruit smoothies, specialty wraps, gourmet sandwiches and salads. The chain, which currently has 280 locations in 34 states, plans 300 by the end of this year.--Karlene Lukovitz