Nation’s Restaurant News: How a veteran with top secret security clearance became a Tropical Smoothie Café franchisee

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By Joanna Fantozzi
Nation’s Restaurant News

If founders, chefs and other creatives are the beating heart of the restaurant industry, then franchisees are the veins delivering their ideas to all corners of the globe. Franchising is critical to the success of the industry, allowing brands to quickly scale their big ideas using other people’s capital. And whether it’s a mom-and-pop restaurant owner with one or two franchised restaurants or a seasoned veteran whose influence in the industry is well-known, franchisees — with all their individual attributes, styles and personalities — make a huge impact on the success of a business.

In this week’s installment of Franchisee Spotlight, we spoke with Clement Troutman, a former top secret security clearance-level U.S. Navy veteran who now owns a Tropical Smoothie Cafe in Capitol Heights, Md., and is one of the most successful franchisees in the store system.

Troutman outlined his career transition and the importance of community involvement as a franchisee.

Store count: One with two more on the way by the end of 2025

Military background

I was born in Detroit, Mich., but my family is from Georgia, so I finished high school there. I had a had a dream to play football and ended up getting injured along the way. I joined the Navy with a friend of mine and ended up making it a career. I traveled the world, lived abroad in Spain, Japan, Guam, and I loved it. Along the way, I met my lovely wife, Jackie, and we have children together. She’s actually the brainchild for this incredible journey and my partner in business.

Smoothie introduction

After my Navy career, I became a defense contractor in cyber security consulting work. My daughter was at Howard University in the school of business and doing a project on the smoothie industry, and she shared it with me. I was coming from a meeting with a colleague and they asked if I had ever been to a Tropical Smoothie Café, and the answer was, “No, I wasn’t familiar with it.”  We stopped there, and that lunch was a game changer. I had a smoothie and a wrap. It was real simple, but it reawakened the spirit of enterprise within me.

Starting a business

I went out to the site and looked at the Tropical Smoothie Café in 2015. I had zero qualifications and no foodservice background. But my background is in athletics and the military, so teamwork is a vital part of working in those environments. I could lead, motivate, inspire, and serve. They approved my application, and then I started this journey. Jackie was terrified, because we had none of the qualifications, but I was on a mission … when my daughter graduated from university she decided to work in the family business. She was our very first hire.

Seeing the brand potential

When I went to the conventions for Tropical Smoothie Café, I saw the potential of the brand. … [Another fellow franchisee] asked me, “What’s your secret?” and I said because I was new and knew very little about the brand, I did not know what was possible or impossible. I didn’t know we weren’t supposed to shatter records or be a high-volume producing café. I just knew people deserved the opportunity to get the product right. So we focused on the service, and that’s how we got started.

Setting a one-million guest goal

We chose our location because we knew it had the most opportunity for growth, and there was such a need for what Tropical Smoothie Cafe had to offer. … I set the goal that we want to serve a million people. The first question I was asked was, “How are you going to do that?” and the answer was that I didn’t know. We started telling the team and then the customers and they created a surge and just kept coming once the messaging got out there. We opened our doors in February 2017, and we were building the plane while flying, but it was a great year, and it hasn’t stopped to this day.

Outgrowing the store

People kept coming, and we had our drive-thru and our 1,600 square-feet, which is ideal for a traditional smoothie brand. But for the amount of volume we were doing, it wasn’t large enough. We didn’t have a big enough facility to serve all our customers. … Along that journey, there was a retail facility nearby that unfortunately did not survive, and it was three times the size of the facility we were in. The owners of the shopping center came to me and said, “We know you are looking for more space.” I took a look at it and it took me about 15 minutes to make the decision to relocate, so we can serve more people faster. With supply chain issues, and after the pandemic, it was somewhat delayed. Just this year, we made the move and we’re excited about our new location. The best is yet to come.

Community involvement

We have an organization called the Mission of Love charity, of which I sit on the board of directors. The charity provides services like food and support items to the community of Capital Heights and the surrounding area. It’s a volunteer position. … [Our business] looks to see how we can participate in and provide additional support to the community. On our anniversary day, we call it a Customer Appreciation Day, with an emphasis on the customer and the community. We are creating jobs for the community. Tomorrow’s leaders come through our café.

Development goals

We have two more locations coming, and we want to get those open. After that, we want to incrementally expand and scale more in Maryland, or maybe into Virginia or down to Georgia. We do have plans to expand and add more locations as we go, to spread the message on wellness, entrepreneurship, and community. We’re excited about our South Lake buildout, which is coming hopefully in 2025, and then the Silver Spring location is coming too. Growth is on the horizon, and we’re looking to bring people along for the ride.

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