Business: PureBerry Acai Bowls
Address: 3224 Route 59, Naperville
Phone/website: 331-226-2159, www.pureberrybowls.com
Owners: Neepa Mehta, 49, and Dorothy Sisnett, 48, both of Naperville
Years in business: Opened May 3
What does your business do? “We sell healthy, nutritious acai bowls and smoothies. Our acai product is all natural, not blended with water or ice. It’s the acai berry, a Brazilian berry,” Sisnett said.
What is the acai berry? “It’s super healthy, filled with anti-oxidants. And nutrients. It’s a super food,” Mehta said.
“Our product is that beautiful berry. We add organic juices, apple and beet juice,” Sisnett said.
What’s the background? “We owned separate Nothing Bundt Cakes franchises. I had one here in Naperville. Dorothy had one in Vernon Hills,” Mehta said.
“We both really love acai bowls. We love the health benefits,” Sisnett said. “And we love the flavor. Our product is different because it’s soft serve.”
Soft serve? “There’s no water, no ice. We put it in liquid form into our soft serve machine,” Mehta said. “It’s a different texture. Softer. Creamier. We fell in love the soft serve version.”
Why move on from cakes? “We love cakes, so does everyone else. But we wanted to bring something healthy to our community. … It’s a healthier product than the cakes we used to sell,” Sisnett said.
What goes into the acai bowls? “Various toppings. Fruit. Granola. Fun toppings for kids like Nutella. Peanut butter,” Sisnett said.
How’s the response been? “Once people try our product, they understand why we want to bring it to the community because it’s unlike anything they’ve tasted before,” Sisnett said.
“You can eat this for breakfast, lunch or dinner and not be hungry until your next meal,” Mehta said.
How did you develop the menu? “Trial and error, 100%. Trying different recipes,” Mehta said.
How do you get the word out? “Some print marketing. Sampling has been the biggest,” Sisnett said.
What’s it like starting a business? “Luckily, we have experience running a business. If we didn’t, we’d be worse off. It’s still been quite an experience. It was a lot more work than opening a franchise,” Mehta said.
“But that also gave us more flexibility. With a franchise, they already have the model built for you,” Sisnett said.
Who comes in? “There are a lot of teens, younger adults who really enjoy the acai bowls and are looking for a healthy alternative. And, we saw a market we could tap. It’s like the bundt cakes. No one knew about bundt cakes when I opened in 2013. They knew the cakes, but they didn’t know what the franchise was,” Mehta said.
What does a new customer say? “I saw this driving by and decided to stop in,” Vidya Iyer, 53, of Naperville, said. “I like the different toppings. … It tastes like a berry sorbet.”
What’s the best part of this job? “Introducing people to the amazing product,” Mehta said.
“It’s happiness in a bowl. When people eat it, we look at them, they look at us, they smile and say, ‘Oh, this is really good,’” Sisnett said.
When are you open? “Nine to six, Monday through Friday, nine to three Saturday and Sunday,” Sisnett said.
When are you busiest? “The weekends,” Mehta said.
What challenges do you face? “The biggest right now is trying to get the word out. Some people don’t know what it is,” she said.
What misconceptions do people have? “They think it’s an ice cream store,” Mehta said.
What are the prices? $10.95 for a small bowl, $12.45 regular, $13.95 large. Smoothies cost $8.50 to $11.
Any memorable stories? “A couple people who live here, who are from Brazil, have come into our store and tried the product. They were pleasantly surprised that the product is similar to what they had in Brazil. … Small kids normally don’t like healthy things. So, to have younger kids try the product and love the product has been rewarding for us,” Sisnett said.
Any surprises? “We didn’t think we’d sell that many smoothies. Smoothie sales are close to our bowl sales, at least 30 to 35%,” Sisnett said.
Are you thinking of expanding? “Oh, definitely. This is just store number one,” Mehta said.
What’s your advice for someone starting a business? “Failure is a part of starting any business. I’d say continue to press forward. There will be emotional highs and lows, but don’t let the valleys prevent you from reaching the peaks,” Sisnett said.
“Like Dorothy said, there will be challenges. You just have to know there will be better and brighter days ahead,” Mehta said.
Steve Metsch is a freelance reporter for the Naperville Sun. If you know of a business you’d like to see profiled in Down to Business, contact Steve Metsch at metschmsfl@yahoo.com.
