Black beans (like most other legumes) are a very good source of cholesterol-lowering fiber as well as protein. In addition to lowering cholesterol, black beans’ high fiber content prevents blood sugar levels from rising too rapidly after a meal, making these beans an especially good choice for individuals with diabetes, insulin resistance or hypoglycemia.

Black beans also make an excellent substitute for red meat in many recipes and are perfect for increasing the nutritional needs of vegans.

These smoky flavored beans are a good source of protein, and when combined with a whole grain such as whole wheat pasta or brown rice, provide protein comparable to that of meat or dairy foods without the high calories or saturated fat.

Less well known is the fact that black beans are also rich in antioxidant compounds. In fact, they have as much antioxidant value as grapes and cranberries, fruits long considered to be antioxidant superstars. When researchers analyzed different types of beans, they found that the darker the bean’s seed coat, the higher its level of antioxidant activity. Gram for gram, black beans were found to have the most antioxidant activity, followed in descending order by red, brown, yellow, and white beans.

Overall, the level of antioxidants found in black beans in this study is approximately 10 times that found in an equivalent amount of oranges, and comparable to that found in an equivalent amount of grapes or cranberries.

Ready to increase your nutrition?
Find these black beans in FRESH Healthy Cafe’s zesty South Western Fiesta Wrap or amp up your own healthy Fresh Protein Bowl creation.

Don’t have time, order it online here.

FRESH is a franchise opportunity that loves our future generation (it’s why we have a healthy combo created just for little ones).

School fundraisers typically consist of pizza or hot dogs. That’s because they’re easy and most kids love them. They’re not the most nutritional option though are they? FRESH Café wants to change that! Schools can fundraise, provide nutritional food options, that kids will love (and being giddy with excitement over).

Smart and healthy kids go on to make smart and healthy decisions. FRESH fuels their brains with nutrient dense, brain loving foods that don’t rely on refined sugar for energy. Whole grains, whole fruit, and whole foods to satiate their hunger, and power their movements, while still tasting incredible. With nutritious options like FRESH, kids can go home and ask for the healthy foods that they’ve tried. Parents will also know that there is a healthy fast food option available in their area. They can pick up a meal after a long day, or grab and go to an after school activity. No matter what the reason, FRESH Café is there to support their healthy lifestyle.

FRESH doesn’t just provide schools with various food options, but also ideas on how to transport the food and drinks safely, and the most effectively. We want to make it simple for the school, and the franchise owner, so that things go smoothly.

If you’re looking for a franchise opportunity that supports kids and communities, you’ll see that FRESH Café’s nutritious and delicious menu fits the nutritional needs of growing kids, whether it’s just smoothies or full box lunches.

Each city and district will be different in how they implement their fundraising and hot lunch programs through the school. It is possible that it is the principal, the local school board, or the school’s Parents’ Advisory Council (PAC, or PTA).

Another way that FRESH can get involved with schools, is by participating in a school fair or event that is doing community outreach.

When you’re considering a restaurant franchise opportunity, FRESH Restaurants is one that supports healthy lifestyles as well as healthy communities. And healthy kids and healthy schools are an important part of that.

Find out how you can support your local community with FRESH Restaurants by contacting us.

Spring and summer are our busy seasons, and reminds us just how important our customers are to the FRESH Café.

It’s why we invest in our community. Our customers live in it. It’s why FRESH Café cares about the environment.

We show our appreciation to our customers every day, by providing great tasting and nutritious food and beverages, and by serving it with excellent customer service. Customers can always expect this, daily, when they walk into our restaurants. Whether you dine in, take-out, or you’re just grabbing and going, we want to make your experience a great one that you will be compelled to share with your friends and family.

However, for special occasions, FRESH Café will host a Customer Appreciation Day! These days are not mandated, and will differ from location to location. What you can expect is a lot of concerted effort to ensure that you, the customer feels extra appreciated.

How do you know that your local FRESH Café is having a Customer Appreciation Day? Look for posters in your local store and throughout the community. You might even receive a flyer in your mailbox (with a sweet coupon too).

Your local community events calendar, or newspaper might promote the event. Your local FRESH Café may even partner with other businesses!

Another special reason that Customer Appreciation Days are extra special, is the deals, coupons, and offers made by FRESH. It’s a great time to bring in your friends and family to try a healthy fast food option.

The best way to ensure that you never miss out on an awesome FRESH Café Customer Appreciation Day is to sign up with your email address at you local FRESH. This way, you’ll never miss out on any of our incredible events, deals, special offers, or new seasonal menu.

Ready to eat some delicious and fresh? Check out our seasonal menu options right now!.

Communication is key in any relationship, and it’s extremely important for any restaurant franchise.

Not only are we responsible for communicating with FRESH owners, but also communicating with customers.

At FRESH Café, we strive to maintain a brand that is recognized throughout the world as a leader in promoting healthy food in a quick serve environment. We cater to millions of customers all over the globe, so it is vital that we are in touch with franchise owners, so we can notify them of training opportunities, specials, and new food and beverage offerings.

Equally as important as our communication with franchise owners, is your communication with customers.

Communication starts the moment a customer walks into a FRESH Café. Our signs and displays are not only made to entice, but also to inform and educate a customer on the delicious food and beverage options we have available. Our friendly staff answer questions, make suggestions, and offer tasty samples too. If a customer is dining in, it’s a great opportunity to ask how everything is tasting, and if they have any suggestions for improvements. Customers are the greatest asset for a restaurant franchise, and their opinion really matters.

The communication doesn’t end there. Communicating with a customer after they have left the restaurant is also critical to the well being of the restaurant franchise. Don’t have a lot of experience, or any at all when it comes to a communication plan? You don’t have have to worry about a that when you join FRESH Café.

FRESH Café is a unique restaurant franchise because value the partnership with the franchise owner. We truly believe that your success is our success, and we work hard at providing top-notch, high quality content, and materials that you’ll be so excited to share and send out to your customers. We’ll help you get out and get involved with your community, so that you become a vital heartbeat in it, and expose your neighbours to the amazing and vibrant FRESH healthy lifestyle.

We’ll help you get started on a great communication plan with your customers to ensure that they receive special offers, coupons, and a chance to try our new delectable seasonal options.

You’ll also be able to communicate and share fresh ideas and best work practices about restaurant franchises with a network of seasoned and new FRESH owners just like you.

With FRESH, you’ll be a pro in no time!

Ready to communicate with us your desire to join FRESH? Contact us today

Juicing is and faster and more efficient way to absorb vital nutrients, minerals and insoluble fiber from fruits and vegetables. Not all juices are created equal.

Many commercially made juices lack nutrition because they’re not actually very fresh.

They contain preservatives, or have been pasteurized for sale.

The Health Benefits of FRESH Squeezes
Our delicious Squeezes are crafted with only pure juices to deliver maximum nutrition to you.

Cold Terminator
The Cold Terminator contains vitamins and minerals needed to regulate the thyroid and ensure proper immune system function.

Beet Punch
Beets get their ruby red hue from betalain, a powerful antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and natural fungicide. Beets significantly lower blood pressure and aids in digestion.

Green Lemonade
As a great source of vitamin c, lemons contain flavonoids which are antioxidants that have cancer fighting properties. Lemons bolsters your immune system and helps your body fight infections.

Fountain of Youth
Apples reduce the risk of colon, prostate, and lung cancer, as well as heart disease, while berries contain antioxidants.

Detox
Parsley, celery, spinach and carrots work together to eliminate harmful toxins from the body and release energy.

The benefits of juicing are available at FRESH. Try them all to find out which FRESH Squeeze is your favorite. Find your closest location here.

Maximize the healthy benefits of your FRESH Cafe smoothie with one of these powerful fortifiers.

Choose a couple to really take our smoothie to the next level.

Whey Protein
The protein of choice for serious athletes, as it helps to develop and sustain lean, strong, and well-defined muscles. Whey Protein also lowers cholesterol and provides all the essential daily amino acids. Ingredients: whey protein concentrate.

Soy Protein
The health benefits of soy-beans are now well established. It is the only vegetable to contain high amounts of protein and all eight essential amino acids. Soy helps lower cholesterol, strengthen bones, and reduce the risk of heart disease. Ingredients: soy protein isolate.

Energy
The true beauty of this blend of healthy ingredients is that it can help fight fatigue, increase stamina and boost vitality – all while reducing stress. Think of it as your own personal “clean” energy. Ingredients: ginseng, gingko biloba, bee pollen, green tea, kola nut, gotu kola.

Multi-Vitamin
A nice change from the once-a-day tablet. All the essential nutrients and minerals for good health, right there in your favorite drink. Ingredients: vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin D2, vitamin E, vitamin K, thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, vitamin B6, vitamin B12, biotin, pantothenic acid, calcium, phosphorus, iodine, magnesium, zinc, and copper.

Slim & Trim
This delicate blend promotes healthy weight-loss, without the gimmicks. Slim & Trim kick starts your metabolism, while increasing your lean muscle mass, and also promoting good heart health. Ingredients: banaba leaf, inulin, l-carnitine, garcinia.

Flaxseed
Fiber is a key requirement for good health, and is known to improve nutritional absorption, lower cholesterol, and regulate blood sugar. Flaxseed is essential if you follow a low-carb diet, which may lack fiber. Ingredients: flaxseeds.

Immune Support
The best way to avoid the latest flu strain is to build a solid defense, by strengthening your immune system. Herbs like Echinacea and goldenseal, plus a good dose of vitamin C can do just that. Ingredients: Echinacea, goldenseal, vitamin C, beta glucan.

Wheatgrass+
Wheatgrass is one of the best sources of living chlorophyll, which aids in building red blood cells, and must be consumed fresh from a living plant to maximize the benefits, like slowing down the age process. Ingredients: fresh wheatgrass

Whether you want a natural boost to your day, kick start your fitness goals or maintain optimal health, Fresh Smoothie fortifiers are a delicious part of a healthy lifestyle. One free in every smoothie.

Find a FRESH cafe near you today.

FRESH Café is proud to be a healthy food franchise for the environment. As part of our ongoing effort to educate our communities about the benefits of being healthy to to environment, we wanted to share with you what our healthy and delicious food is served in.

All of our food products, whether it is a refreshing fresh squeeze, a nutritious power bowl, or a mega tasty wrap, are served in bio-compostable cups and containers.

Why is it important to for FRESH to serve our products in bio-compostable cups and containers? Because FRESH Café is more than a healthy fast food franchise, we are a global enterprise that serves millions of people, and that is a lot of cups and containers. Our mission is to promote a healthy lifestyle, and in order to do that, we need to care about the environment and the impact the fast food industry has on it.

The good news is that disposable containers don’t have to end up in the landfill for thousands of years. There is another choice!

FRESH Café food and beverage packaging is made from a 100% renewable resource, that you can eat (although we don’t recommend that). That’s right, the delicious and nutritious food and beverages that you get from FRESH, are served in containers made of food. Isn’t that amazing? What’s more, you don’t have to worry about harmful chemicals leaching into your food either.

Polylactic Acid or Polyactide (PLA) is a compostable polymer derived from corn. PLA, is comparable to a traditional petroleum based plastic (the kind that takes a thousand years to break down), but it is completely compostable.  That means that it will breakdown safely, and in a relatively short time, naturally in the environment, and eventually become a part of the dirt, soil, and earth. Our cups and containers look and feel like the regular plastic ones, you won’t be able to tell the difference. However, your cup or container will be making a world of difference.

Ready to join Fresh Café’s healthy fast food franchise? Contact us today.

For health-conscious choices, a new place to keep it Fresh at Fresh Cafe Franchise

It was “desperation dinner night” as the Significant Other and I bid farewell to our quasi-pet bunnies nibbling on backyard grass and headed for a rabbit food dinner of our own at Fresh Healthy Café in the plaza on French Road near Transit.

Ironically, Fresh is ringed by fast-food joints. Smartly, it occupies a space near Catalyst Fitness where a sweaty Zumba class worked out.

It must be said that Fresh “is an international brand, and a global leader in the booming healthy fast-casual food industry.” This is the first franchise in Western New York.

Bright, apple green walls with airy seating greeted us, as did a quirky, friendly guy working the register. In the open kitchen, wheatgrass sprouted, while in a glassed-in private room, a group of folks with smoothies met.

The process is simple. Order and wait for your name. A membership to Catalyst or the nearby BAC nets a 10 percent discount.

The menu is varied with lots of health-conscious choices. If you need humongous portions, Fresh isn’t for you. But that’s the point, you aren’t overindulging, rather eating smart.

Smoothies ($4.49/$5.49) and Super Smoothies ($5.49/$6.49) come with one “fortifier” like whey/soy protein or flaxseed; extras are 50 cents each. “Nutritious Sides” ($3.29) are basically yogurt-fruit parfaits with granola.

The rest of the menu includes breakfast sandwiches, soups, wraps, panini, salads and interestingly, crepes.

We liked that whether a wrap, panini or salad the items come half ($4.59) or full ($6.99). So a Mediterranean can come as a wrap, panini or salad for the same price. Easy. Soups are regular ($3.29) or large ($4.29).

For SigO the special carrot ginger soup; for me a half kale vegetarian salad (beet, feta, kale, tomato, red pepper, red onion, almonds, dried cranberry and balsamic vinaigrette on the side). Both items came with a lovely slice of French baguette that was super fresh with a nice chewy crust. But with wraps on the way, we only sampled.

The soup was fantastic – pureed carrot, but with hunks for texture, too. The sweet-carrot taste had the zippy heat of fresh ginger and was that a hint of curry spices?

The kale salad was just as scrumptious. The best surprise? Fresh beets, not roasted. I loved the crisp texture and sugar-beet taste. Crunchy almonds and tangy dried cranberries had me thinking a full salad would make a great meal.

SigO raved about his Southwestern Fiesta Wrap (spicy chicken breast, cheddar, romaine, red onion, green pepper, black beans, salsa, fresh jalapeño). I was too busy lapping up my Asian Chicken Wrap (chicken breast, romaine, mandarin oranges, almonds, crispy noodles, sesame vinaigrette) to answer. Each bite was a delicious medley in my mouth.

Some might quibble that they would want more chicken in the wrap, but we were fine with the portions. The tastes and textures of the extras make up for what some might perceive is a lack of protein. In truth, we were stuffed, and isn’t that the point of healthy eating?

Kids Combos ($6.49) include a half wrap, panini or salad, or grilled cheese or PBJ, with a 12-ounce drink. Fresh-squeezed juices ($2.49/$2.99), “squeezes” ($5.49/$6.49) and organic coffees, teas and lemonades also are featured.

We’ll be back to try a crepe ($5.99 sweet or vegetarian versions). But for now we were happy to return home to the bunnies with a guilt-free dinner under our belts.

Fresh Healthy Café Franchise Opportunity
Where: 1402 French Road, Depew
Hours: 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday; 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday.
Extra: Menu calorie count online. Meeting room available to rent. Good music.
Wheelchair accessible: Yes.

Canada’s largest province is getting FRESH franchise!

FRESH Restaurants is preparing to take the next exciting step in its growth as a brand, having succeeded in its bid for a new location in the world’s busiest airport.