# Smoothie and juice bar prep and par sheet (free template)

*Guides · Mays Team · September 19, 2026*

![Mays cover card: Smoothie and juice bar prep and par sheet (free template) — Packs, cut fruit and juice prepped to the rush, not to a guess](https://mays-uploads.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/site/blog__smoothie-juice-bar-prep-par-sheet__cover.52065568bb.png)

At a smoothie bar, the rush is won or lost before the doors open. If the packs are portioned, the fruit is cut and the greens are washed, a blender order takes a minute. If they aren't, every order starts with a knife and the line backs up out the door.

This is the **prep side** of a smoothie and juice bar: how much to prep for each part of the day, how to build smoothie packs, and how to know how much juice a case of produce really gives you. The opening, closing and cleaning lists, and the FDA juice labeling rules, are in our [juice and smoothie bar checklists](https://www.mays.app/blog/juice-smoothie-bar-checklist-template).

*This is general information, not legal advice. The food safety rules below come from the FDA Food Code. Your inspector and your local rules have the final word.*

## What you prep, and how long it keeps

Split prep into four kinds, because each one keeps for a different time:

| Kind | Examples | Where it's held | How long you keep it (your call, within the rule) |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| **Smoothie packs** | Pre-portioned fruit, greens and seeds for one drink, bagged or cupped | Freezer, or a cooler at 41°F or below if they hold fresh cut fruit | Frozen: until the pack's date. Cold: the day you make them, and never past 7 days |
| **Cut fruit and greens** | Melon, pineapple, mango, washed kale and spinach | Cooler at 41°F or below | One or two days for quality; 7 days is the outer limit |
| **Juice produce** | Washed and trimmed carrots, apples, ginger, celery | Cooler | Prep the day you press |
| **Bases and garnishes** | Nut milk, açaí base, granola cups, sliced banana for bowls | Cooler or dry storage | By the label or your own tested time |

The rules behind the right-hand column:

- **Wash before you cut.** Raw fruit and vegetables *"shall be thoroughly washed in water to remove soil and other contaminants before being cut, combined with other ingredients, cooked, served, or offered for human consumption in READY-TO-EAT form"* (§3-302.15(A), [2022 FDA Food Code](https://www.fda.gov/media/164194/download)).
- **Cut melons and cut leafy greens need cold holding.** The Food Code's definition of time/temperature control for safety (TCS) food includes *"cut melons, cut leafy greens, cut tomatoes"* (§1-201.10(B)). TCS food is held cold at *"5°C (41°F) or less"* (§3-501.16(A)(2)).
- **Seven days at most for anything you prep and hold.** Ready-to-eat TCS food kept more than 24 hours is marked with a use-by date, for *"a maximum of 7 days. The day of preparation shall be counted as Day 1"* (§3-501.17(A)). A cut melon pack made Monday is gone by Sunday, and most bars drop it much sooner for taste.
- **Frozen fruit blended to order.** Frozen TCS food is normally thawed in the cooler, under running water or as part of cooking, but the Food Code also allows *"any procedure if a portion of frozen READY-TO-EAT FOOD is thawed and prepared for immediate service in response to an individual CONSUMER'S order"* (§3-501.13(D)). A frozen pack that goes straight into the blender for one order is covered. A tub of frozen mango thawing on the counter for the afternoon is not.

The [2026 Food Code](https://www.fda.gov/food/fda-food-code/food-code-2026) keeps the same rules on all four points.

## Pars by daypart

A juice bar's day has shapes: a breakfast rush, a lunch rush, a slow afternoon, maybe a post-gym evening. One par for the whole day means the packs run out at 8:30 or sit in the freezer until close. Set a par per daypart, and prep to the next one.

| Item | Unit | Open to 11 | 11 to 2 | 2 to close | Day's par | On hand at open | To prep |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Green smoothie pack | pack |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| Berry smoothie pack | pack |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| Tropical smoothie pack | pack |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| Cut melon | qt |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| Cut pineapple | qt |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| Washed kale | lb |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| Açaí base | portion |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| Fresh orange juice | qt |  |  |  |  |  |  |

**Where the numbers come from:** your POS's sales by item for the same weekday over the last three or four weeks, split by hour. A pack par is drinks sold in that daypart, plus a small buffer (two or three packs). Prep the morning and lunch pars before you open, and the afternoon par in the 2 pm lull.

**Weekends get their own sheet.** A Saturday at a bar near a park or a gym looks nothing like a Tuesday.

## The smoothie pack build card

One card per smoothie, laminated, at the pack station. It's what makes pack 40 the same as pack 1.

| Smoothie: ________ | Per pack | Notes |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Fruit 1 | ___ oz |  |
| Fruit 2 | ___ oz |  |
| Greens | ___ oz | Washed, spun dry |
| Seeds, powders, add-ins | ___ g or scoops | Allergen: ________ |
| Bag or cup size |  |  |
| Label | Name, date made, use by |  |
| Liquid at the blender (not in the pack) | ___ fl oz |  |
| Allergens in this smoothie |  | Nuts, milk, soy, sesame and others |

Weigh, don't eyeball. A scale at the pack station costs less than a week of over-portioned mango.

## The produce yield test for pressed juice

If you press juice, the cost of a 16 oz bottle depends on how much juice a case gives you, and that changes with the season and the supplier. Run a yield test when you change suppliers, and every couple of months anyway.

| Yield test |  |
| --- | --- |
| Produce and supplier |  |
| Weight as bought (lb) |  |
| Weight after trim (lb) |  |
| Juice out (fl oz) |  |
| Fluid oz per pound as bought | Juice out ÷ weight as bought |
| Pounds needed for one 16 oz bottle | 16 ÷ fl oz per pound |
| Tested by, date |  |

**A made-up example:** 10 lb of carrots as bought, 9.2 lb after trim, 52 fl oz of juice. That's 5.2 fl oz per pound as bought, so a 16 oz bottle of straight carrot juice takes about 3.1 lb. If tomorrow's par is 12 bottles, the prep cook needs about 37 lb of carrots out of the cooler.

Press only to your par. Our [juice and smoothie bar checklists](https://www.mays.app/blog/juice-smoothie-bar-checklist-template) cover the label and warning rules for juice you bottle and keep.

## The daily prep and par sheet

Print one per day. The opener fills in the left half before the doors open, and the 2 pm person the right half.

| Item | Par AM + lunch | On hand | Prep | Made by | Use by | Par PM | On hand at 2 | Prep | Made by | Thrown out at close |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |

The last column feeds next week's pars. If the green pack is thrown out three days running, lower its afternoon par. If it ran out by noon, raise the morning one. Our [food waste log](https://www.mays.app/blog/cafe-food-waste-log) covers what to write down and how to review it.

## Where Mays fits

- **A prep sheet per daypart, or per day.** Under **Inventory → Prep**, make a sheet called *AM prep* or *Saturday*, and add a line for each item with its **Target qty**. **Today** shows the target, what's on hand and a **Suggested** amount for items you stock and count, and **Print** gives the station a paper copy with the date. See [Prep sheets](https://www.mays.app/help/inventory/prep-sheets).
- **The freezer count at close, from the phone.** Add an **Inventory Count** task to the closing checklist with the packs, fruit bags and bases, each with a **Min Stock** and a **Case Size**. When something is under its minimum, Mays adds a **Restock Order** task for the managers, with how much to order rounded to whole cases, and sends them a notification. See [Inventory-count and restock tasks](https://www.mays.app/help/inventory/inventory-count-tasks).
- **Cost per smoothie.** A recipe in **Inventory → Recipes** is one serving, priced from your vendor prices with a **Yield %** per ingredient, so trim loss on pineapple or kale is in the cost. Put your yield test result there. See [Recipes and plate costing](https://www.mays.app/help/inventory/recipes-and-costing).

What Mays doesn't do yet: a prep sheet line has one target, so dayparts need their own sheets, and packs you make yourself show the full target every time, because Mays doesn't keep stock of things you make. Use-by dates and pack labels stay on paper. And the restock task orders back to the minimum, not to a par, so set **Min Stock** to the amount you want after a delivery.

## Prep to the rush

Pars by daypart, packs built from a card, and juice pressed to a tested yield. The line moves, and less fruit goes in the bin.

[**Start your free trial**](https://go.mays.app/register): 30 days, every module, no card needed. Or [book a walkthrough](https://www.mays.app/book?from=blog-smoothie-juice-bar-prep-par-sheet) and we'll set up your prep sheets and freezer count with you.

## Related help articles

- Inventory: [Prep sheets](https://www.mays.app/help/inventory/prep-sheets) — Build prep lists for each location, such as AM Prep, with a target for each line. Mays compares the targets with what's on hand and shows how much to prep today.
- Inventory: [Inventory-count and restock tasks](https://www.mays.app/help/inventory/inventory-count-tasks) — Add an Inventory Count task to a checklist so staff count a short list of items. Anything under its minimum becomes a Restock Order task for managers.
- Inventory: [Recipes and plate costing](https://www.mays.app/help/inventory/recipes-and-costing) — A recipe lists what goes into one menu item. Mays prices each ingredient from your vendor prices and shows the plate's cost, cost % and margin.
- Inventory: [Running stock counts](https://www.mays.app/help/inventory/stock-counts) — A count records what's on your shelves. Submitting it sets each counted item's stock on hand and shows how far it was from what Mays expected.
- Tasks & checklists: [Creating a checklist template](https://www.mays.app/help/tasks-checklists/create-a-checklist-template) — Build an opening, closing or cleaning checklist once as a template — groups, tasks and answer types — and Mays turns it into your team's task list in the app.

Canonical: https://www.mays.app/blog/smoothie-juice-bar-prep-par-sheet