New owners but still mixing same Blendz

New owners took over the management of Tropical Blendz, which re-opened early this month, offering almost the same items—smoothies and lunch specials—that its local clients have grown to love the past four years. Tropical Blendz is located right across the Garapan Roundhouse in Middle Road.

Manager Joan Taitano, whose family now owns the shop that’s been a regular hangout of people who enjoy healthy food, said they practically stuck with the same menu with plans of improving or offering new items in the future.

“We kept all the smoothies and juices that Tropical Blendz has been offering for the past four years, and the breakfast and lunch specials. Tropical Blendz already has a market and we did not want to alienate them. We just wanted to expand our market to more local people,” said Taitano.

Among the new things that they introduced is the smoothie specials of the week with catchy names like “Feels Like the First Kiss” a combination of strawberry, guava nectar, lime, and mint; and “True Love Waits” that has strawberry, banana, almond milk, and mint.

“We have many more smoothie specials we’re concocting. It’s fun to actually come up with catchy and cool names,” added Taitano.

Meat is a no-no in the healthy food restaurant and as much as possible they use organic produce as their main ingredients. “We live in a tropical paradise and we ought to take advantage of the fresh local fruits and vegetables available to us,” Taitano said.

Health-conscious people are the primary target market but Taitano said they plan to expand to all and not just stick to a select few. “We would really like to make it family/kid friendly and just make it a place where good, healthy food is available.”

Aside from offering a gift card that offers 50 percent off on your sixth smoothie if you buy five and introducing new menu items next year, Taitano said they plan to get more involved in the community.

“We plan to be actively involved in the community and educate people about the benefits of living a healthy lifestyle. People are dying left and right because of obesity, which could actually be prevented if we made better choices of the food we eat,” said Taitano.

“Food doesn’t necessarily make people gain weight, it’s the type of food we consume on a given day. Food is not supposed to make us sick, it is supposed to strengthen our bodies so we could lead better and more productive lives.”

She added that our bodies have their own way of self-healing through the vitamins and nutrients that one could get in eating the right food like fruits and vegetables have. “The end goal is eating healthy.”

“Tropical Blendz is committed to fulfilling the vision for the people of the CNMI to live a healthy lifestyle. The only way people could change is through education. When we educate ourselves, it empowers us to do the right thing.”

Taitano said she knows the difficulty of keeping a healthy lifestyle. “But the sacrifices we make now far outweighs the benefits we would have in the future. Saipan is our home and we ought to take care of one another.

She added that it is yourself that you are competing with and not with other people when it comes to living healthy. That’s why they teamed up with the Lose Big, Win Big contest organized by Tan Holdings.

“We are also in partnership with Tan Holdings’ Lose Big, Win Big contest which begins in August and we would offer five percent discount on any purchases of smoothies for the contestants,” said Taitano, whose mother owns the nearby Nila’s Salon.

She added that Tropical Blendz was not their first choice but since their family wants to venture in the food business, they chose it since it is close to their 14-year-old salon. “It was pure coincidence so it was a perfect location.”

Tropical Blendz is open Mondays to Saturdays from 8am to 3pm. For more information or to pick-up orders, call 233-8809.