Business offers food and drinks with a healthy twist
A new business offering fruit smoothies and healthy eats will open its doors in Morgan Hill tomorrow.
Ruben and Joy Cabreros, owners and operators of Robeks, located at 406 Tennant Station, across from the Safeway store, will offer products that will provide a boost for active, health conscious families. Healthy is their goal and their nutritional smoothies, they said, provide a great alternative to junk food.
Ruben, a mechanical engineer in San Jose, and Joy, a stay-at-home mom up until this time, always wanted to have their own business. The couple researched different franchise opportunities and found Robeks a couple of years ago.
“I told Ruben if we were going to sell something, it had to be a product I believed in,” said Joy. “He showed me information about Robeks and when I looked at the menu and thought about being a mom, I knew this was a product I would gladly spend on my children instead of fast food.”
Robeks has all kinds of smoothies, juices, yogurt, shakes and freezes providing nutritional boosts. Also available are energy bowls and healthy sandwiches, soups, salads, pretzels, power cookies and muffins.
Their store will be the first Robeks franchise in the South Bay area. Robeks was established in 1996 in Los Angeles.
“Robeks is a very community and family-oriented company,” Joy explained. “They do a lot of outreach programs and fundraisers for schools. That’s something that struck me and also gave me a reason to believe in their company.”
Right now, they said, Robeks is selling $1 “Live Healthy” wristbands and giving 25 percent of the retail price proceeds of each bracelet sold to the Save the Children’s U.S. programs Nutrition and Physical Activity Initiative.
The couple signed the franchise agreement with Robeks two years ago, then they trained and searched for a location. Although they live in Gilroy, they believe Morgan Hill is an ideal place for their business. They are especially happy with their Tennant Station location.
“Being at Tennant Station is central. People come in and out with a 24-hour fitness center, the movie theater, the grocery store, it’s a daily draw. We’ll have a nice, consistent flow of people,” said Ruben.
“We’re happy to be in Morgan Hill.” Joy added. “People here are very family-oriented and we’ve noticed they’re very active and health conscious. The demographics of the area fit our product.”
Right now, the couple sees brand recognition as the biggest challenge before them.
“We need to get people to know who we are and what we offer,” said Joy.
Beginning tomorrow, the store will be open Mondays through Thursdays, 6:30am – 9pm; Fridays and Saturdays, 6:30am – 10pm; and Sundays, 7am – 8pm. Joy and the couple’s niece, Sheena Ganotisi, will manage the business.
The store will observe a grand opening on Saturday, Nov. 19, and will celebrate by giving away 12-oz. smoothies from 12pm to 3pm.
Ruben and Joy invite the public to stop in and try their healthy beverages and eats. The Strawnana Berry, their array of Tropical Smoothies, and Green Tea Shots are very popular, they note, along with Acai, a Brazilian berry that is high in natural antioxidants and are a great source of fiber.
“We’d like everyone to just come in, say hi and have a smoothie,” they said.
Rose Meily is the City Editor for the Morgan Hill Times. Reach her at 779-4106 ext. 201 or by e-mail at rm****@mo*************.com
