What began with açaí bowls in Bristol, Virginia, has grown into seven storefronts, two food trucks and a Cleveland location built around fresh fruit, colorful bowls, matcha, coffee and a growing appetite for superfood.

By Sara Turney

If you are trying Blended Pedaler for the first time, start with the açaí bowl.

There are plenty of other temptations on the menu at the Cleveland storefront, from smoothies and matcha to loaded toast, breakfast sandwiches, lattes, refreshers and cookie butter Greek yogurt cups. Still, the açaí bowl is where the Blended Pedaler story began, and it remains the product at the center of what the business does.

The fruit is cut daily, the bowls are made fresh, and there is plenty of room to find a combination that becomes your own.

If you would rather skip the decision making and go directly to something customers already love, ask about Pedalers Way. It is one of the top sellers.

That balance between fresh food and an upbeat atmosphere has helped Blended Pedaler grow far beyond where it started. The business now has seven storefront locations and two food trucks, including the superfood truck that helped establish the brand in the Chattanooga area before the Cleveland storefront opened.

For the Cleveland team, that storefront is more than another location on a growing list.

It is something they worked toward.

From Bristol to Cleveland

Blended Pedaler originated in Bristol, Virginia, when its owners came together around an idea for bringing a healthier food option to their community.

One of the owners was only 19 when the business began.

The concept centered on açaí bowls and grew from there. What started in Bristol eventually expanded into multiple storefronts and food trucks, carrying the original idea into new communities along the way.

Cleveland became one of them.

The manager of Blended Pedaler Cleveland remembers the work that went into getting the business known locally before the storefront arrived.

“Me and the owners worked really hard to make the superfood truck have a name in Chattanooga and then now to having a storefront in Cleveland Tn is such a blessing and huge accomplishment!”

That progression matters because mobile businesses often introduce themselves to a community differently than traditional restaurants do.

The truck goes to the people first.

Customers discover it at events. They learn the name. They try a bowl or grab a drink. They see the truck again somewhere else, and slowly a business that began in another city starts feeling familiar in their own.

For Blended Pedaler, that work eventually led to something permanent in Cleveland.

Now customers do not have to wait for the next festival to find them.

The bowl that started everything

Açaí bowls still best represent Blended Pedaler because they are where the business began.

The bowls are vegan friendly, dairy free and gluten free, and fresh fruit is prepared daily. That combination fits the original goal of bringing a superfood option into smaller communities while making it something people actually look forward to eating.

The Cleveland storefront has grown well beyond bowls, though.

Customers can find smoothies, lattes, refreshers and matcha alongside loaded toast and breakfast sandwiches. Power bites and cookie butter Greek yogurt cups give the menu even more range, while monthly specials offer something new for regular customers to discover.

The food truck keeps things more focused, serving açaí bowls, refreshers, cold brew and matcha while it is out at festivals and events.

That means the experience changes a little depending on where you find Blended Pedaler.

The truck gives you the heart of the concept.

The storefront lets you explore.

And then there is ube

One of the pleasures of a menu like this is finding an ingredient you may not already know.

At Blended Pedaler, that ingredient is often ube.

Customers are frequently surprised by it, particularly when they learn that the purple ingredient is a yam commonly associated with Filipino and other Southeast Asian cooking. Its naturally sweet flavor is often compared with vanilla, although ube has a character all its own.

The brilliant purple color certainly does not hurt its ability to get attention.

For customers accustomed to familiar fruit flavors, ingredients like ube add another element of discovery to the Blended Pedaler menu. You can come in knowing exactly what you want, or you can ask what is new and find yourself trying something you had never ordered before.

That sense of discovery is especially fitting for a business that continues adding monthly specials at its storefronts.

There should always be a reason to look at the menu again.

The energy matters too

Food may bring people through the door, but the Cleveland team pays just as much attention to the atmosphere around it.

For the manager, customers are a major part of what makes the work enjoyable.

“The vibes and energy the customers bring is amazing!”

It is a phrase that suits Blended Pedaler surprisingly well.

Açaí bowls are colorful. Matcha has developed a culture of its own. Refreshers are made for the person who wants something bright and cold in the middle of the day. Even the visual side of the business feels energetic.

That same energy travels with the food truck.

Festivals put the team in front of customers outside the storefront and create relationships with the other businesses working alongside them. For the Cleveland manager, getting to know those vendors and making friends has become one of the best parts of participating in events.

Anyone who spends enough time around the festival circuit begins to recognize that community. Vendors may arrive with completely different products, but setup mornings, busy afternoons and long event days have a way of turning neighboring booths and trucks into familiar faces.

Blended Pedaler has grown inside that community while also building one of its own.

Seven storefronts and still growing

Opening the seventh storefront is the success the team points to with particular pride.

It is a significant distance from an idea that began in Bristol.

Seven storefronts and two food trucks later, Blended Pedaler is still looking toward another location.

Growth at that pace can make a business look as though everything happened quickly, but the advice from the Cleveland team tells a different story.

“Take one day at a time. Nothing is going to happen in 1 night!”

That may be particularly useful advice coming from a business whose growth is now visible enough that customers mostly see the finished result.

They see the storefront.

They see the truck.

They see seven locations.

What they do not necessarily see are all the individual days required to get from the first bowl in Bristol to a storefront in Cleveland.

The team does.

What to try when you find them

The easiest answer is still the açaí bowl.

It is where Blended Pedaler began, what the Cleveland team recommends and the product that continues to represent the business as it expands.

Pedalers Way is a natural choice if you want to know what other customers are ordering. If you are feeling more adventurous, ask about ube. At the storefront, take a look at the monthly specials before making up your mind because the menu may have something that was not there on your last visit.

You can also make an entirely different kind of stop for matcha, cold brew or a refresher.

That variety is part of what Blended Pedaler has become.

The original idea was to bring a healthier option to a small town community. The açaí bowls came first, but they opened the door to something much larger.

Today there are storefronts, food trucks, breakfast options, coffee, matcha, fresh fruit and another location already somewhere on the horizon.

For the Cleveland team, though, there is something particularly satisfying about the place they have already reached.

They helped take a superfood truck into the Chattanooga area and build enough familiarity for Blended Pedaler to put down roots in Cleveland.

Now the doors are open.

Go get a bowl.

Meet Blended Pedaler Cleveland: Açaí Bowls, Fresh Energy and a Superfood Business on the Move