Ones to Watch | By Sabrina
Davis
Green Leaf’s and
Bananas
The menu’s centerpiece is the Pick
& Mix salad option, which allows customers
a choice between romaine or a spring mix of lettuces
and a variety of fresh toppings and dressings,
all mixed in front of them in a stainless steel
bowl.
Villa also hired a culinary chef to create three
signature salads including the Cobb, Mediterranean
Greek, and Green Leaf’s Salad (spring mix,
grilled chicken, cranberries, walnuts, mandarin
oranges, and a mandarin orange sesame sauce). Rodriguez
says she expects the Pick & Mix option to win
over customers from the competition. “We
have this big display of fresh toppings right in
front of customers. That’s something the
Wendy’s and Burger Kings of the world, even
with their new designer salads, can’t compete
with.”
Beyond the salads, Green Leaf’s offers panini
sandwiches and wraps. Popular options include Fire
Roasted Chicken & Peppers panini and the Chicken
Caesar Wrapper.
The latest push is to improve and sell more breakfast,
especially at airports, Rodriguez says. The breakfast
menu includes croissants, rolls, and bagels, all
of which can be topped with scrambled eggs, bacon,
sausage, cream cheese, or jelly.
Green Leaf’s and Bananas
President: Biagio Scotto
HQ: Morristown, New Jersey
Year Started: 1976 as Everything Yogurt
Annual Sales: Not Disclosed
Total Units: 45
Franchise Units: 40
Higher volume Green Leaf’s and Bananas
mall locations serve around 600 people a day
during typical mall hours, with an average
check of $5.35.
WHY
IT BEARS WATCHING: Green Leaf’s
and Bananas are now part of a company
with more than 40 years of restaurant
experience. Villa Enterprises acquired
the Everything Yogurt Brands with the
specific intent of consolidating and
improving them to make them marketable
for rapid franchise growth. The company
has spent the last three years redesigning
logos and stores, and improving recipes. “We
are poised and ready for growth now,” Rodriguez
says.
Green Leaf’s and Bananas stores are
concentrated in New York and New Jersey, and
the Washington, D.C. area now. The company
intends to expand through franchising into
Florida next and eventually nationwide. The
first Florida location will open in Coral
Springs by the end of the year. A new store
also will open in Albany International Airport
during that timeframe.
Villa Enterprises is operating its pizza
brand in Italy, the United Kingdom, Russia,
Scotland, and Kuwait and is looking to develop
in Mexico, the Middle East, and Eastern Europe.
The company has visions of taking all of its
brands international. Green Leaf’s and
Bananas might take that step in the distant
future, Rodriguez says.
