Is it cheaper to make my own?
Pick your usual order, what you pay and how often. See the year side by side: the money you'd keep, the sugar you'd skip and the protein you'd gain.
What you'd keep in a year
$822$8.00, 3 times a week: $1,248 a year, against $426 for the same glass at home
The sugar you'd skip: The Caribbean Way 3 times a week is about 17 lb of added sugar a year, more than 4 bags of 4 lb.
The protein you'd gain: Strawberry banana yogurt has 30 g a glass against 2 g, 28 g more, 4,368 g over the year.
The Caribbean Way, 20 oz D
The Milkshake in Disguise
390 cal, 2 g protein, 4 g fiber, 83 g sugar, 50 added
- Energy89390 calof 330 to 830
- Processing50not published70% or more
- Muscle52 g proteinof 30 to 40 g
- Hunger374 g fiberof 5.5 g fiber
- Nutrients50not publishedof 1.7 cups
- Glucose2150 g fast carbsabout 15 g or less
From Smoothie King's menu, November 2026. In it: bananas, strawberries, papaya juice blend and turbinado.
Strawberry banana yogurt A
The Real Meal
396 cal, 30 g protein, 6 g fiber, 40 g sugar, 0 added
- 1 cup milk244 g
- 7 oz Greek yogurt198 g
- 1 cup frozen strawberries150 g
- 1 banana118 g
About $2.73 a glass at US average prices.
- Milk, 2%: $0.26 (Milk, whole, per gallon, BLS APU0000709112, October 2026)
- Greek yogurt, plain nonfat: $1.07 (Greek yogurt, 32 oz, conventional, USDA AMS National Dairy Retail Report, Vol 93 No 45, November 6, 2026)
- Strawberries, frozen: $1.24 (Strawberries, dry pint, per 12 oz, BLS APU0000711415, October 2026)
- Banana: $0.17 (Bananas, per lb, BLS APU0000711211, October 2026)
What your year means
The money is the headline, but the sugar is the number your body feels. A 20 oz Caribbean Way has 50 g of added sugar, five times the 10 g the US guidelines allow in a meal, and 2 g of protein, so you eat again at ten. Its home twin costs about a third of an $8 cup and carries 30 g of protein. You don't have to give up the chain. Swap the days you have it most out of habit, keep the ones you'd miss, and order the small size with a protein add-in when you go.
How the year adds up
Your order a year is the price times how many a week times 52. The home twin a year is its cost at US average prices times the same. What you'd keep is the difference. The sugar you'd skip is the order's added sugar times how many a week times 52, in pounds, shown as 4 lb bags. No chain publishes a price that holds across its stores, so the price is always yours.
The home prices
| Item | Price | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Milk, whole, per gallon | $4.10 | BLS APU0000709112, October 2026 |
| Bananas, per lb | $0.655 | BLS APU0000711211, October 2026 |
| Strawberries, dry pint, per 12 oz | $2.81 | BLS APU0000711415, October 2026 |
| Greek yogurt, 32 oz, conventional | $4.87 | USDA AMS National Dairy Retail Report, Vol 93 No 45, November 6, 2026 |
| Cottage cheese, 24 oz | $3.37 | USDA AMS National Dairy Retail Report, Vol 93 No 45, November 6, 2026 |
| Blueberries, 1 pint (11 to 12 oz) | $4.32 | USDA AMS Weekly Specialty Crops Retail Report, November 13, 2026 |
USDA's prices are national averages from grocery circulars and digital promotions, so they're sale prices. The strawberry price is the fresh pint, and the recipes use frozen. Whey, frozen fruit, chia, flax, oats, cocoa, peanut butter and plant milks have no federal price, so a twin that uses them asks for yours.
The chain numbers
Each preset is the chain's own page with its month, graded on its label on the six meters. Smoothie King prints added sugar. Jamba lists total sugar only, so its Glucose meter gets half marks and says "not published". Neither prints its recipe by weight or its vitamins, so Processing and Nutrients get half marks too, and a half mark counts as a miss.
8 sources
- Smoothie King, The Caribbean Way, 20 oz, product page, opened November 14, 2026smoothieking.com
- Smoothie King, Angel Food, 20 oz, product page, opened November 14, 2026smoothieking.com
- Smoothie King, The Hulk Strawberry, 20 oz, product page, opened November 14, 2026smoothieking.com
- Smoothie King, Gladiator Strawberry, 20 oz, product page, opened November 14, 2026smoothieking.com
- Jamba Nutrition Spreadsheet, October 2026assets.ctfassets.net
- US Bureau of Labor Statistics. Average Price Data, US city average, October 2026bls.gov
- USDA Agricultural Marketing Service. National Dairy Retail Report, Vol 93 No 45, November 6, 2026ams.usda.gov
- USDA Agricultural Marketing Service. Weekly Specialty Crops Retail Report, November 13, 2026ams.usda.gov
