Jamba's new sandwich line gives the fast casual a firm foothold in the food space

“We were always planning to enter the food space with more equity,” said Brock Peek, executive chef with Jamba and McAlister’s Deli, both brands of parent company GoTo Foods. “We first did a lot of work with popables, introducing empanadas and mozzarella bites, but sandwiches and center-of-the-plate options were always part of the overall vision.” The ultimate goal of Jamba’s vision is to become more of a one-stop destination for a full meal that goes well with an over-ice beverage, he added.

Customers were looking for that, and handheld sandwiches were a perfect fit.

Crafting the sandwich builds

Peek started the R&D process by looking closely at Jamba’s DNA and what was already in the pantry. “We have the handcrafted element here, as consumers see their smoothie or bowl being prepared right in front of them as it goes down the line,” he said. “We wanted to make sure we were approaching the sandwiches in the same way, to continue to uphold the quality standard that we’re really passionate about.” To move more deliberately into the food space, he had to bring in a number of new ingredients, but he also tapped the current menu for flavor inspiration. “I incorporated some fruit elements, like a blueberry mango dipping sauce that goes with grilled cheese.

Those ingredients were already in-house SKUs from our smoothies,” Peek said. Same with the PB Nutella Crunch sandwich, made with peanut butter, Nutella, banana, and granola used in Jamba’s smoothie bowls.

But a good sandwich starts with the bread, and that was missing from Jamba’s pantry. Peek brought in two breads for the seven sandwiches — sourdough and ciabatta. “We wanted something that was kind of hearty and stood up to all the ingredients that were going on those sandwiches,” he said. “Plus sourdough has kind of a health halo around it.”

A premium protein was next on the shopping list. Peek’s choice was rotisserie chicken because it is both indulgent and familiar.

The chicken is sourced from a supplier partner and comes in completely cooked and in boneless pieces that pull apart and are ready to go between the bread in two sandwiches: Rotisserie Chicken Avo Ranch with avocado, bacon, provolone, white cheddar, spinach, and ranch on ciabatta, and Rotisserie Chicken Pesto with the same cheeses and spinach, enhanced with roasted tomato and pesto mayo. Bacon, cheddar, provolone, and pesto are some of the other new SKUs added to the pantry.

Peek admits he enjoys the hunt for ingredients, even though the sandwiches required a bit of searching for the right products and vendor partners. “One of my favorite ingredients that we found was the oven roasted cherry tomatoes,” he said. “It adds freshness, some sweetness, and a little bit of tang. The tomatoes are packed in a good oil, so that gives them a sweet-savory balance and it’s more premium than a standard sliced tomato.” Most of the sandwich ingredients are cross-utilized on several items in the lineup.

The JBST, Jamba’s take on a BLT, uses bacon, roasted tomatoes, spinach, and mayo on sourdough, while the Market Pesto Cheese Melt and Blueberry Dipper Cheese Melt use the cheddar and provolone. “There are only two ingredients that are not used on more than one build, and that’s the avocado and ranch,” said the chef. That cross-utilization helped Peek zero in on these particular flavor profiles, but consumer research and marketing also played a part. “From our development of bites and snacks, we knew that the pesto flavor profile was popular, and that grilled cheese had to be in there,” he said, adding that avocado-bacon-ranch is a favorite build in other fast casuals.

Supply chain also had to jump in to make sure all the products would be available for the market test, which is running in select restaurants in California, Colorado, Nevada, and Arizona through Oct. 14. The sandwiches range in price from $6.49 to $8.49; those with protein are priced on the higher end.

No equipment or operational disruptions

The introduction of Jamba’s sandwich line didn’t require the installation of any new equipment outside of a few small wares, like spatulas. Turbochef ovens were already in place for the bites, empanadas, and other snacks, and they worked with the grilled cheese sandwiches.

“That was the fun part of this project because we really wanted to fit the execution of the sandwiches into our current footprint,” said Peek. “We worked hand-in-hand with our operations team to create a seamless flow.” The teams did require a little additional training on the assembly of the sandwiches, as it was a totally new process for them, and the handcrafted approach is important to Jamba. “We made some visuals that were easy to use and we also brought in people throughout the GoTo Foods portfolio to check the process to see what we might have missed,” Peek said.

Sister brands McAlister’s Deli and Schlotzsky’s are sandwich pros.

Tweaking and testing

Jamba went into sandwich R&D with certain flavor profiles and builds in mind and the research and data to support them.

The team tweaked little things along the way, like swapping out one cheese for another, “but these are the sandwiches that rose to the top,” said Peek. Of course, there were some ideas that were left on the table and might be resurrected in future menu items. “We looked at nine of 10 different carriers, including wraps, but we felt passionately about the two breads that we landed on,” he said.

The sandwich test launched at the end of July, and so far initial performance is positive, but it’s too early for Jamba to share metrics. As to which sandwiches might make it to the permanent menu, Peek said “from a culinary standpoint, I hope they all win. And there’s definitely room for other food options on Jamba’s menu.”