Superfood craze driving Everbowl’s rapid ascent. Acai anyone?

A little more than two years after San Diego-based Everbowl opened its first store, founder Jeff Fenster boasts that his homage to superfood bowls and smoothies will one day have a presence coast to coast.

At least on the West Coast, Fenster is well on his way, with plans to open 45 stores by the end of this year and more than double that the following year.

With 17 eateries now in place and four more expected to debut in the next two months, Fenster is confident about continued growth across the country. Most of the Everbowls are in San Diego County but he already has expanded to Riverside and Orange counties and in April will open his first out-of-state store — in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Everbowl just debuted on the San Diego State campus (it’s part of the students’ meal plan) and will be in Hillcrest and Little Italy by next month. The company is currently in lease negotiations for nine more locations, some of which are in Arizona.

Fenster’s ambitious expansion plans are fueled in part by a recent infusion of $3 million in capital from Toronto-based Serruya Private Equity, which has invested in such notable chains as Pinkberry, Cold Stone and Jamba Juice.

Although he self-funded his first few superfood fast-casual venues, Fenster raised $1.5 million early last year from friends, family and investors, including restaurateur David Cohn, who has also served as an adviser for the growing chain.

Each store costs from $75,000 to $200,000 to develop, although the average is about $150,000, Fenster said.

Everbowl marries Fenster’s passion for eating healthy with the meteoric rise of superfoods, most notably the acai berry, which many fast-casual eateries have showcased in multi-ingredient bowls and smoothies.

The former owner of a digital marketing agency, Fenster believes there are four basic reasons why most people are not healthy eaters: Healthy food is too expensive, it’s not filling, it doesn’t taste good, and it’s not easily accessible.

“We really wanted to achieve that fourth initiative of making Everbowl accessible so we needed to grow faster, and we believe we have the team in place to do that,” said Fenster, who incorporates an Everbowl concoction into his diet six days a week. “We were introduced to Serruya through a third-party group and they were looking to put money into this space. They seem to really work well with their brands, but we didn’t go out searching for capital.”

Everbowl’s menu focuses on customized parfaits where customers choose from one of four superfood bases — acai, pitaya, graviola or acerola. They then pick a liquid to add, like almond milk or coconut water, topped off with a selection of fruits from dried mango to strawberries, plus super-stuff add-ins like bee pollen and chia. The menu also includes grab and go salads, and smoothies. The 24-ounce bowls are priced at $9.

“It’s a snack, a meal replacement, a post-workout option, an actual meal,” Fenster said. “We find our busiest times of day are 10 a.m. to 2 and after school, and now we’re getting a lot of kids and parents to come in to replace dessert. I used to trick my kids to eat healthy and now we have the dream smoothie, which tastes like a Reese’s peanut butter cup. It has dark chocolate, nut milk, cacao, peanut butter, spinach and blueberries.”

While franchising the Evebowl concept is probably inevitable if the company hopes to grow as fast as Fenster would like, that option is not being pursued right now. Surraya, though, would be helpful in shepherding that process, said Fenster, noting that the private equity firm has more than 3,000 franchisees in 46 countries.

“We just want to build a good company and partner with the right people when the timing is right,” he said. “I don’t want some franchisees to lose money and some to make money, so I don’t want to do something if I can’t do it well.”

lori.weisberg@sduniontribune.com

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Twitter: @loriweisberg