Photo courtesy of Alchemy Juice Bar + Café
Once upon a time, cold-pressed juice bars were only popular in major cities such as New York City and Chicago, and along the trendy spots on the West Coast, where they can be found on nearly every street corner and are almost as popular as coffee shops.
Now, though, consumers’ demand for the latest in healthful dining options has resulted in a surge of cold-pressed juice purveyors right here in central Ohio.
With only a few such shops open in Columbus in early 2014, Derek Riley wanted to get in on the action.
Riley began working on his business plan and, in April 2015, he opened PurePressed Juicery in downtown Columbus.
“The cold-pressed juice market has really taken off across the whole country. It hadn’t really hit Columbus too hard yet,” says Riley, general manager and co-founder. “With Columbus on the rise, it was just a matter of time before the juice craze came to Columbus, so we wanted to get in early.”
Cold-pressed juice is significantly different from other juices in the way that it is produced. Most juices are produced with centrifugal juicers that produce juice to order with a fast spinning blade. The blade is so sharp and spins so fast that it generates heat, which can damage nutrients and enzymes.
Cold-pressed juice takes a different approach by using a masticating juicer. While this process takes longer, the produce is ground up and highly pressurized to extract the juice, resulting in no heat and intact nutrients.
Photo courtesy of PurePressed Juicery
Alexis Joseph, a registered dietitian and co-founder of Alchemy Juice Bar + Café in Olde Towne East, says that the potent nutrient profile of cold-pressed juice is what makes it more nutritional than regular juice. Still, she does not heavily stress one type over another.
“As a dietitian, I probably have a different feeling about this than other people because I’m kind of the person that wants the client to really get in their nutrition however they can or however is most successful to them,” Joseph says.
Joseph co-founded Alchemy in October 2014 with the help of A&R Creative Group, a family-owned restaurant group that also operates the Crest Gastropub, the Market Italian Village, Ethyl & Tank and a handful of other local businesses. Given Joseph’s background in nutrition, it had always been a passion of hers to provide exciting and nutritional food to the public.
“It all started back for me in college (at The Ohio State University). I went to school with one of the brothers (who own) A&R,” Joseph says. “We’d always talk about how there were no smoothie places in Columbus and nowhere to get something that was healthy and really delicious, too.”
Since 2014, Alchemy has taken off. Its menu features smoothies, fruit and nut bowls, toast with various toppings, salads, sandwiches, and over 15 different cold-pressed juice combinations.
The most popular flavor is Mean Green: pear, kale, spinach, celery, cilantro and lime. Other popular options include the sweet and spicy Orange Zing (carrot, orange, lemon, ginger and cayenne) and deeply red colored Easy Beet (beet, apple, pear and lemon.)
Photo courtesy of Alchemy Juice Bar + Café
As for PurePressed Juicery, the most popular option is All Day Green Energy, which includes kale, spinach, romaine lettuce, celery, cucumber, parsley, lemon and ginger. It is PurePressed’s more healthful option and “tastes like a salad with lemon dressing,” says Riley.
PurePressed also offers a variety called Green Simplicity, which features red apple, kale and lemon to get people used to the bitter flavor many green juices have, and a seasonal Sweet Piña Green with greens, pineapple and mint.
PurePressed also sells cold-pressed juices wholesale. The company uses high-pressure pasteurization to kill off any pathogens and to extend the shelf life of the product, allowing the company to sell its items at corporate offices around central Ohio, including those of Nationwide Insurance, L Brands and Abercrombie & Fitch.
“Basically, it’s very cold temperatures with high amounts of pressure,” Riley says. “Unfortunately, those are big on the West Coast, but there are not too many of those machines out east. (So) we take ours to Rochester, N.Y. to get them processed.”
The recent trend toward the preservation of nutrients has given cold-pressed juice makers the opportunity to grow and thrive in Columbus over the last five years, says Joseph. The look and ease of cold-pressed juice leads her to believe that the market for it will continue to grow.
“They are very brightly colored. People know they’re a really quick way to get those nutrients,” she says. “Maybe you don’t have time to cook at home, or you’re a busy student, (or) you’re busy at work. Grabbing a juice is a very quick and efficient way to get nutrition.”
Zachary Konno is a contributing writer. Feedback welcome at gbishop@cityscenemediagroup.com.
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