Purple Haze acai to open its doors in Belmont

The owner of a new acai shop in Belmont promises to be anything but “cookie cutter”.

The owner of a slick new superfood shop in Belmont is bringing a product that is “going off” in Sydney to the Geelong region.

Purple Haze Acai is set to open its doors on Friday at 5pm.

Owner Jason Zulic said he approached serving the Brazilian berries, acai, in an untraditional method, opting to pour them from a soft serve machine, which is popular in the NSW capital.

“I feel like it’s something Geelong is missing,” Mr Zulic said.

“We wanted to make a big statement, and bring something that wasn’t just another shop.”

The shop serves acai through a soft serve machine. Picture: Alison Wynd

The end product looks more like frozen yoghurt than an acai bowl. Picture: Alison Wynd

The shop is decked out with neon signs and a purple paint job.

Mr Zulic has focused on both harnessing “TikTok hype” and how to best serve the ingredients.

Acai bowls usually see the berries served in a puree with granola and other fruits.

At Purple Haze, that puree is put into a soft serve machine, giving it a consistency more like frozen yoghurt.

While the shop still offers the traditional fruit and granola, customers can also choose from a range of toppings including pistachio, Bueno, Biscoff and Nutella.

Purple Haze acai bar owner Jason Zulic in the Belmont store. Picture: Alison Wynd

Mr Zulic was working full-time at a car dealership when the opportunity to take over the shop front tucked away in Strand Arcade came up.

“You see a lot of food shops and they’re doing the kind of cookie cutter, generic stuff and I saw a gap,” he said.

Originally published as Purple Haze acai to open its doors in Belmont