Kicking off this week is a f’real 20th birthday celebration that features the launch of its limited-time-only Birthday Cake Batter Milkshake.
The Emeryville, California-based company’s shakes and smoothies are a blend-it-yourself treat available in convenience stores, restaurants, college campuses, movie theaters, military bases and more. With the touch of a button, consumers blend their own frozen treat in about a minute.
“Demand for Birthday Cake flavor is strongest among Gen Z consumers, which is a target audience for f'real,” the company said. “Made with real milk, the special edition Birthday Cake Batter Milkshake evokes childhood memories of eating cake batter straight from the bowl.”
Most f'real limited time flavors are available for three to six months.
The first f'real blender was installed in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 2003. Since then, f'real has sold more 500 million milkshakes worldwide, the company said. Founder Jim Farrell, an engineer and milkshake lover, recognized the time and hassle required for operators to make a milkshake. After years of work in his garage, he developed the f'real self-serve blender.
The design evolved over the years, and when f'real foods joined the Buffalo, New York-based Rich Products portfolio in 2012, the blend-it-yourself machines were in 9,000 convenience stores and foodservice locations in the United States and Canada. Today, f’real is available in more 24,000 c-stores, foodservice areas and college campuses worldwide.
The f’real turnkey self-serve program enables retailers to offer shakes and smoothies without adding labor. Consumers select a flavor from the freezer, peel off the lid and place their cup in the blender, where they choose a thickness. Operators can offer up to seven core milkshake flavors made with real milk, three smoothies made with real fruit and less added sugar, plus limited-edition flavors released each year. The suggested retail price for each 12-ounce f'real is $3.99.
F’real has offered a Cake Batter flavor in the past, including for the brand’s 10th birthday, and it was very popular, the company said.
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