Playa Bowls maximizes functional ingredients
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Protein was a big push for Playa Bowls this past yearCourtesy of Playa Bowls
For a beverage to make it onto Playa Bowls’ menu, it has to meet four crucial benchmarks.
Functional benefits are a top priority, said Tim Hackbardt, CMO of the Belmar, New Jersey-based fast casual. “But every item also must be visually appealing and taste great. And then it has to be operationally executable, so we do a really good job,” he added.
Making functional fun, colorful, and delicious has earned Playa Bowls the 2026 Bevvy Award for Best Functional Beverage Offering. And the brand’s Tidal Wave Smoothie is a poster child for the category.
The ocean-inspired beverage combines Playa’s coconut blend with banana, pineapple, vanilla protein, blue spirulina, organic coconut milk, and non-dairy coco whip. “The smoothie is a beautiful product, blue like this big churning ocean with white coco whip swirls, but it’s packed with protein and [antioxidant-rich] spirulina to provide the functional ingredients inside,” said Hackbardt.
A 20-ounce serving of this smoothie contains 31 grams protein, while the 16-ounce version has 17 grams and provides 16% of daily fiber, making it ideal for GLP-1 users.
Protein smoothies are in high demand, and that coupled with the spectacular blue color of the Tidal Wave attracted a particular influencer with a big following, Hackbardt added. The smoothie became a viral sensation, even though not every Playa customer knows what spirulina is.
“That discovery is part of the experience,” Hackbardt said. “The people in our shops are trained to explain the ingredients and their benefits, and younger generations, especially, are looking for those discoveries.” When your antioxidants and vitamins come with a little fun and taste good, that’s a bonus, he added.
The Tidal Wave Smoothie was introduced as a limited time offer earlier this year, but Hackbardt suspects it will become a permanent menu item in 2027. It was the chain’s highest selling LTO smoothie of all time.
Protein was a big push for Playa Bowls this past year, the focus of several other menu introductions as well. Mermaid SZN is a summer promotion, featuring items like the Passion Glow Smoothie, a blend of passion fruit and mango bases, strawberries, and organic coconut milk, infused with collagen peptides and finished with a coco whip swirl. It promises “glow-from-within wellness.” Antioxidant-rich blue spirulina was part of the promotion, too, showing up in the Purple Mermaid Smoothie. It starts with a pitaya base blended with banana, pineapple, blue spirulina, organic coconut milk, and vanilla protein. The eye-catching swirly purple smoothie touts “sustained energy, muscle support, and feel-good fuel.”
And Protein Clouds are another way Playa Bowls has become a source for the nutrient. This line blends nutrient-dense Brazilian acai with vanilla or chocolate protein powder and whole fruits to provide 16-17 grams protein in a serving for GLP-1 support. The chain’s menu also offers cold-pressed functional juices and wellness shots with turmeric, ginger, cayenne, and elderberry to provide immunity and adaptagen boosts.
While Playa Bowls attracts health-conscious guests, there are also those who want to indulge in items like the Mermaid Mood Bowl, featuring a Nutella drizzle and chocolate-hazelnut seashell treat. But even that item boasts the functional benefits of blue spirulina.
