Innovation

For instance, they go out of their way to make sure they keep up with efficient recycling procedures, using both biodegradable cups and containers made from corn plastic, and only using certified organic ingredients to produce the variety of products within their Juicery. Primarily, they are very proud of being able to eliminate the organic waste of leftover juices by collecting and donating it for composting at a local farming business called, Morgan’s Farm, located in Cedar Grove, NJ. Participating in this composting donation does not benefit the business in any financial way. Its significance comes from being able to support the environment and being a powerful representation of the lifestyle, they want to promote throughout the communities in New Jersey.

Originally, one third of the leftover juices that originated from the production of their products were being disposed of as general waste, and it began upsetting Eugene, the business owner. For instance, one pound of kale produces only ten ounces of juice; meaning one third of the weight becomes waste. As of now, the business produces about 70-120 grams of compost per week. Moreover, the business is continuing to grow over time, resulting in a significant amount of excess waste being generated daily. The machinery he uses is highly-efficient and sold at costly prices, however, very helpful when striving to achieve the goals of minimizing all of the waste through the composting process.

Inspiration

Eugene Onishkevich is the sole owner of Green Point Juicery and the main face behind this remarkable initiative. His core belief is that going above just being environmentally sound (friendly) is just as important as having excellent customer service and high-quality products. For Eugene, recycling, saving energy and minimizing any harmful environmental impacts has always been a lifestyle for him growing up. Hence, he implemented these beliefs and practices into his very successful business.

One of the quotations from the interview that shows how dedicated Green Point Juicery is in sustainability innovating their business and positively impacting the environment was at the end where Eugene mentioned, “People care about the environment, and they are impressed by our environmentally friendly practices and even make suggestions on how to improve them.”

When asked about anything he would like to add he quoted, “I have plans for the future when we have our own building. I want to install our own solar panels, and switch the packaging material of some of our juices that contain plastic (PET) to a more sustainable packaging. The rest of the packaging for smoothie cups and caps, straws, and salad bowls are made from corn plastic which is biodegradable."

Overall impact

As mentioned earlier, Eugene is the original creator of the innovation based upon his personal beliefs and lifestyle. There are no stakeholders on board, it is a small business with two stores open in both Verona and Morristown, NJ. Green Point Juicery takes great care in regard to how the store disposes their waste. The majority of the waste stems from food and they make sure to compost everything they can. Eugene did thorough research and contacted Morgan’s Farm to whom he donates all of the pulp from juicing, specifically for compost. During the interview he also mentioned that all these organic wastes sit on an open bed with fresh compost as the superficial layer available for wild deer to eat and the lower layers are leftover for soil use.

Additionally, on his Instagram account you can see the pictures he has taken with the deer, illustrating his passion for the environment and the creatures that live in it. The Sustainable Verona Team tries to find innovative ways to help support local businesses throughout various parts of the community. There are several incentives offered to those businesses that go “green”; these incentives include their logo and business profile featured on the Township Green Business. Others include the promotion of the businesses' Facebook pages and a free table at the annual Green Fair. Furthermore, these “green” businesses have access to education and networking support through Sustainable Verona. Green Point Juicery even encourages their clients to stay and shop locally by providing business cards of other businesses at their Verona facility, creating a community network.

Business benefit

Eugene, Green Point’s owner, relayed that there was no specific data for the amount of donations made over time. He is not in the habit of documenting organic material donations given to Morgan’s Farm. As evidence from time to time, he refers inquiries to the company's social media platforms, such as Instagram. The business has developed a strong social media presence due to their tremendous dedication to sustainability. It has created an elevated platform for the business's customers to really feel a part of the world-changing goals Green Point has in place.

Another opportunity that we briefly mentioned earlier was maintaining a specific clientele inside of the local communities in Verona. The Jewish community are thrilled about this innovation and are willing to spend any amount of money to support a business like Green Point that has such strong values. Moreover, this helped the business branch off into another neighborhood in Morristown, NJ where the was great demand for a Juicery such as Eugene's. Now Eugene is able to extend his impact in the local neighborhoods of NJ that will help change the world to make it a better place, one juice at a time.

Social and environmental benefit

Composting of leftover juice waste and having a sustainable business policy positively impacts both business and society. The company also provides fresh and good quality products for its customers. They also focus on delivering healthy shakes/smoothies, for instance, certain drinks help with cleansing the body from toxins, help reduce chronic inflammation, etc. These symptoms are documented and reiterated in pamphlets available at their retail store. Most recently, people are more focused on healthy products, and that has a very positive impact on the business’ sales. During our visit to the Green Point Juicery, “Brenda” (one of the employees) said “[…] Due to the nature of the business, being organic, gluten-free, and kosher-approved there is already a vast amount of people interested and coming to visit, and eventually they become loyal clients. Additionally, there is a large population of Jewish people who feel actively interested in the business practices” (likely because of the company's dedication to kosher products).

The company can retain many Jewish customers by offering a variety of healthy products that are made with their preferred process. Although, it may not have a direct economic impact on the business, however, Eugene mentioned, “waste disposal fees are included in the monthly rent, but he does not dispose of organic waste, he sends it over to Morgan’s Farm. Meaning, the town benefits from this by saving about $2,500 per year on waste disposal. The materials he uses for packaging are more expensive than the regular non-biodegradable materials found at a cheaper cost and used by the majority of businesses.” Green Point Juicery may be saving money from their waste disposal process, so they reinvest what they save to provide the best biodegradable packages to customers. The qualitative impact of the innovation on the society and environment is providing customers with excellent quality and health benefits. It benefits the environment by decreasing waste and using biodegradable products for packaging. The overall impact on the business is increasing clientele interest, loyalty and sense of pride for having something healthy.

Short-term effects of the business would be striving to accomplish good sales points and to foster a welcoming environment for its customers. Knowing this, they have implemented the concept of being a sustainable business which uses kosher-approved, organic, and gluten-free products with the hope of attracting even more customers to their door. Additionally, the long-term effects are that they will continue to execute ways to enhance innovations that will pave a way to build loyalty and commitment to their clientele. One way that they will accomplish this task is to promote their environmentally friendly approaches on social media sites. Another long-term goal of the company is to not attract customers to the business for just a juice, snack or pastry, but for them to feel like they are supporting a greater cause.

Interview

Eugene Onishkevich, Owner