From Kitchen to Business: How to Turn Your Passion for Juicing into a Profitable Venture

¿Do you love making juices at home? ¿Do your friends and family come over just to try your latest juice recipes? This could inspire you to turn your passion into profits by launching a cold-pressed juice business. 

Any entrepreneur will tell you that passion is important, but a strategy is required for success. Here's how to turn your love for juices and a healthy lifestyle into a successful business.

#1 Research the Market

The first step in launching any new business is to conduct a formal market research. This helps you gauge the demand for freshly squeezed juice and create a solid business strategy. Don't guess any of the factors below. If it's easier, hire a professional to complete your market research.

• Local demand: Identify your local competition and review juice and functional beverage market trends to see if there's room for a new juice bar. If so, determine where in your city the demand is highest.
• Identify gaps in the local market: How can you differentiate your business from the competition? Two of the biggest differentiators juice bars can capitalize on are the use of organic produce and offering cold-pressed juice.
• Determine your target audience: Analyze current trends and consumer preferences to create a profile of your top 3 consumers. Perhaps vegans, health-conscious consumers, and those looking for short-term cleanses.

#2 Select Your Business Model

Now it's time to select your juice business model. You will also need to obtain a business license, food safety license, food truck permit, and other local licenses and permits.

Physical juice bar

If all you sell is juice, or juice, smoothies, wellness shots, and grab-and-go snacks, you won't need much space. You'll need enough space for a walk-in refrigerator or commercial refrigerators to keep your products at temperature and space to prep and make juices. If you plan to open a full healthy food café, you'll need a medium-sized establishment.

Farmers markets and direct-to-consumer sales

If you plan to sell your juice at farmers markets or as juice cleanses delivered directly to consumers, you may not need to rent a physical location. Check your state's cottage food laws as juice is something you could make in your home. If your state requires a commercial kitchen or you've outgrown your kitchen, consider renting space in a shared-use kitchen.

Shared-use kitchens allow you to rent space for a few hours a day. You will need to identify a shared-use space that allows you to keep your products and commercial juicer on-site. Reach out to nonprofit organizations with commercial kitchens (like community dining halls) as you might be able to rent their kitchen between the meals they serve. 

Juice food truck

An increasingly popular juice business model is food trucks. Food trucks offer the flexibility of renting dedicated space and selling at events and other scheduled locations. You might start your day serving juice and energy shots to professionals on their way to work and head to a college campus for lunch. You can also book spots at farmers markets, festivals, food events, health and wellness fairs, and more. You could even drive to other counties.

Be sure to understand the local guidelines for food trucks regarding where you can park and sell and what types of permits and authorizations your city or county requires. 

Business to business

Selling B2B is a business model you can use alone or with the above business models. This involves bottling your juice and selling it to other businesses. If not your juice, ¡recycle your juice pulp to create a secondary environmentally conscious revenue stream!

You can partner and sell to:

• Catering companies
• Health food stores
• Healthy food restaurants
• Standard restaurants for fresh orange juice
• Hotels and BNBs for fresh orange juice
• Bakeries that require juice or pulp
• ¡And more!

#3 Create a Business Plan

Now that your market research is complete, you know who your target audience is, and you know what type of juice business you want to launch, it's time to create a business plan. A solid business plan is necessary for business loans and grants. It also provides you with a roadmap and foundation for profits and success.

Like your market research, consider hiring a business consultant to create your juice bar business plan for you. A professional consultant will outline your startup capital, financial projections, marketing plan, and more. They will also advise you on local permits, licenses, and food industry regulations you must obtain or comply with.

Here is a business plan template to help you get started.

#4 Market Your New Business

Your business plan includes a marketing strategy, but you'll need to implement that strategy.

• Branding: Essential branding elements include your logo, digital logo icons, preferred fonts, brand color, mission, vision, values, and company story.
• Printed marketing material: You may not need much printed material, but at the very least you will need menus and signage. You might also need business cards, flyers, letterhead, and other materials.
• Photo and video content: You'll need a delicious range of photos and video clips of your juices and menu items for your website and social media. Use your smartphone or hire a food photographer.
• Website: Every business needs a website that conveys its brand story, highlights its juice menu, and connects and engages with consumers.
• Social media: Determine which social media channels are most relevant to your demographic, with Instagram and Facebook being the top choices for healthy entrepreneurship. Be sure to use city, state, and region hashtags.
• Paid advertising: You will need to invest in online and social media ads targeted to your local area and demographic. You could also pay for strategic offline marketing.

¡Successful Juice Bar Startups!

You are not alone in your desire to capitalize on the growing trends of fresh juices made to order or to-go. The success stories below serve as inspiration for launching your juice business.

Jamba

One of the oldest juice and smoothie businesses in the U.S., Jamba started in 1980 as a single location in San Luis Obispo, California. A group of active friends, led by Kirk Perron, who enjoyed cycling, made fresh smoothies and juices after their workouts. This inspired them to launch what would become a national brand, with franchises and a growing number of international locations.

O’ju

O’ju is a distributor in the Paris area that has mastered the art of B2B juice supply. They use the Zumex Mastery cold press to make over 12 certified organic juice recipes that they distribute to organic stores, restaurants, and coffee shops. They also sell and deliver directly to consumers.

Mahau Juice Bar

Mahau Juice Bar was founded by Marcieli Pastorio in Norwood, Massachusetts, in 2018. This healthy food restaurant sells juices, smoothies, bowls, wellness shots, salads, and sandwiches. Their menu evolves to support food industry's wellness trends. Small but mighty, Mahau Juice Bar franchises its functional food and beverage brand on the East Coast.

¡Zumex has the cold press technology you need to launch your juice startup! 

The juice technology you choose plays a vital role in establishing your brand identity. We've designed our cold presses to deliver premium juice that is vibrant in color and rich in flavor. Your juice will be smooth and nutritious with zero foam or separation.

For operational efficiency, our cold presses are ergonomic and can juice with little to no prep. Melons must be cut in half. We also sell centrifugal juicers, citrus juicers, and pomegranate juicers. All our technology is durable, energy-efficient, easy to clean, and produces 1 to 2 ounces more per serving than our competitors. 

We want to see health entrepreneurs succeed and are here to answer your questions. ¡Contact us to learn more!