Scottsdale Father-and-Son Team Takes On Big Smoothie Brands — A Modern-Day David and Goliath
Every great underdog story starts with a simple belief: we can do this better.
For Daniel and Ethan Boone, founders of HB Protein Smoothies, that belief was born inside a smoothie shop that left them uninspired — and hungry to build something of their own.
Daniel Boone spent more than two decades running a successful furniture business before deciding his next chapter needed to mean something more. “I want to live to be 120 years old,” Daniel says — and he meant it. Convinced his next venture had to live at the intersection of health, purpose, and passion, he walked into a smoothie shop one day and walked out with a vision. He brought his son Ethan in early, planting the seed of the idea when Ethan was just 16. After stints in Hawaii working in hospitality, launching and selling small businesses, and pursuing a path toward becoming a pilot, Ethan found himself at a crossroads — and chose the counter over the cockpit. “The passion, the vision, and the growth opportunities at HB made the decision easy,” Ethan said. The result of their relentless pursuit: a proprietary smoothie formula packed with 35 to 50 grams of protein and just 250 to 400 calories, designed to make high-protein nutrition a seamless part of everyday life — not a chore.
With a freshly signed multi-unit franchise deal in Florida and a second corporate location opening in Flagstaff, Arizona, HB is now taking the fight to the giants of the smoothie industry — Smoothie King, Jamba, and Tropical Smoothie Café, among them.
Their first franchisee, John Oswald — a CPA, attorney, former investment banker, and franchise industry board member with experience spanning Wolfgang Puck, P.F. Chang’s, and Panera Bread — has committed to opening five locations across South Florida, with the first slated for the Naples market. Oswald discovered HB during a visit to Scottsdale and was immediately hooked. “I visited HB Protein Smoothies in Scottsdale and immediately wished we had one in Naples,” he said. “Nothing like this concept — delicious, high-protein, nutritious shakes I found myself craving to the point where I wanted to bring them to Southwest Florida myself.”
For a seasoned hospitality investor, his endorsement carries serious weight. “Protein is the next big thing in the restaurant industry,” Oswald said. “The numbers are better than any concept I’ve ever seen. Wait until you see the Item 19.” The economics are just as compelling. HB’s lean operating model features low overhead, streamlined and proven operations, and compatibility with existing retail and food service spaces for conversion — dramatically lowering the barrier to entry compared to the ground-up builds required by competing brands.
When franchise development legend Dan Rowe — CEO of Fransmart and the architect behind the growth of Five Guys, QDOBA, and The Halal Guys — took notice after his own family became loyal HB customers, the brand gained a world-class partner to fuel its national expansion and challenge major smoothie brands.
Make no mistake — this is a David versus Goliath moment. The major smoothie brands have the name recognition. What they don’t have is the hunger of a father and son who built something from scratch because they genuinely believed in it, a unit economic model that turns heads among even the most seasoned restaurant investors, and the agility that no legacy brand can buy or replicate. HB Protein Smoothies isn’t trying to copy the big players. It’s next in line for the throne.
Armed with a perfected formula, an authentic origin story, and a world-class franchise development partner, HB Protein Smoothies is setting its sights on locations nationwide. For more information, visit hbproteinsmoothies.com.