Aug 15, 2009 2:24 PM

Jamba Inc has announced continued progress in its brand expansion plans, as its wholly owned subsidiary, Jamba Juice Company, entered into a license agreement with The Inventure Group to develop a line of a blend-and-serve, frozen fruit smoothie kits for retail grocery distribution.

This license agreement builds upon existing licensing agreements signed with Nestlé in 2007 and Think Wow Toys and Oregon Ice Cream in 2009, to create health and wellness-oriented, Jamba-branded retail products.

The blend-and-serve smoothie kits are expected to launch in the United States during the first quarter of 2010 and will include a variety of fresh-frozen, whole fruit pieces, including raspberries and blueberries, from Washington-based Rader Farms, an Inventure Group company.

The Inventure Group is a supplier of frozen fruit to some of the nation’s largest grocery retailers and maker and marketer of branded and private label snack foods, as well as frozen fruit under the Rader Farms brand.

Since announcing its intent to build a licensing growth platform as part of the 2009 BLEND plan, the blueprint for the company’s strategic priorities, Jamba has made progress in developing licensing alliances to launch new products. The company’s frozen novelty products, developed through its relationship with Oregon Ice Cream, and the Jamba-branded toy blender, developed through its relationship with Think Wow Toys, are expected to hit retail shelves in late 2009.