Next time you’re at McDonald’s, ask for a double wheatgrass juice to go.

If they look at you funny, explain that it’s a terrific source of chlorophyll.

Tell ’em you’ve read articles in medical journals that suggest chlorophyll is good for what ails you, including peptic ulcers, infected feet or hypoprothrombinemia.

Or maybe just order a diet cola.

Jack Dagley, for Business Edge
Dale Wishewan is quenching the thirsts of health-conscious customers.

But if liquid wheatgrass, bee pollen, creatine, echinacea, chromium picolinate or ginseng are your cup o’juice, stop by one of 35 Booster Juice stores in Alberta.

You’ll put a spring in your step while patronizing the fastest-growing franchise operation in the country.

Edmonton-based Booster Juice is an Alberta success story that almost defies belief.

In November 1999, a young mechanical engineer from rural Alberta, with zero restaurant experience, opened a modest juice bar in Sherwood Park.

Less than three years later, Dale Wishewan and his Oregon-based partner, Jon Amack, preside over an empire of 70 Booster Juice franchises across five provinces. They’re currently trying to sort through 3,700 active inquiries from people wanting to climb aboard the bandwagon at $185,000 a pop.

Wishewan, the 33-year-old president/CEO, boldly estimates they’ll be up to 90 stores by New Year’s Eve.

“The way we’re growing, we can be a $100-million company within the next five years,” said the country boy who caught a whirlwind by the tail.

While the partners make no serious medical claims for Booster Juice, fans of their high-test juices and smoothies are soaking up delicious blends of herbal products that have been sold in health food stores for decades.

“We want people to think of our products as a nutritious snack, not a treat. You get 400 healthy calories and less than a gram of fat – pure fruit, pure juice, sorbet, home-made yogurt and our nutritional additives (i.e., the ‘booster’ in Booster Juice),” Wishewan explained.

Jack Dagley, for Business Edge
Edmonton entrepreneur Dale Wishewan has a sure-fire recipe for joy juice – take one small Sherwood Park beverage business, add a splash of Raspberry Rapture and a sprig of wheatgrass, and boost it into a 70-franchise operation.

For example, if you order a Raspberry Rapture, you can add the smoothie booster of your choice.

The Energy Booster includes ginseng and bee pollen for “energy to spare.” The Brain Booster is a mixture of ginko biloba and lecithin, etc. etc.

The partners hooked up while studying engineering at Portland State University, which Wishewan attended on a baseball scholarship (he still plays senior ball in the Edmonton area).

Even before they graduated, the partners “did very well” importing Viper security car alarm systems to Canada.

Then one day, as Wishewan tells it: “Jon asked me how well juice bars were doing up in Canada. I said: ‘What’s a juice bar?’ ”

He was quickly enlightened. In California, health-food fans have been sipping carrot and celery juice in veggie bars since Swiss nutritionist Gaylord Hauser became dietitian to the stars back in Hollywood’s Garbo-Gable era.

More recently, U.S. franchise chains such as Jamba Juice have tackled the deep-fried fast-food kingpins head-on and have more than held their own.

Wishewan and Amack insist they haven’t been particularly surprised by the overwhelming response to Booster Juice (19 stores the first year, up to 45 the second).

All part of the master plan, said Wishewan.

“People didn’t exactly say we were crazy, but they thought we were just talking,” Wishewan remembered. “I told our suppliers we’d have 20 stores the first year, but we ended up one short.”

From there, “it’s really just a matter of leasing a location with minimal retail square footage and doing high volumes at peak times of the day,” offered the CEO, making it sound far too simple.

Hitting on that ideal location is 70 per cent of the battle, Wishewan said, and his stores have done well in that regard.

“Being near a fitness centre never hurts,” he added.

Part of the success formula is an attractive deal for
franchisees.

For a $185,000 fee, they step into a turnkey operation: “We do the design, we work with the contractor, do a full
build-out and provide the initial inventory and training.”

That entry price looks particularly attractive when compared, say, to Second Cup franchise fees, which can run to twice as much money.

To keep the momentum going, the partners have hired expert hands from within the industry, including an ex-CEO of the Great Canadian Bagel, who led the charge of that chain from two to 145 outlets.

So . . . does the boss take a refreshing jolt of Booster Juice after another tough game on the ball diamond?

Absolutely.

But only after the obligatory thirst-quenching beer.