Innovation

The main innovation that Diaita focuses on, and as all their recipes reflect, is food as medicine. All the items on their menu are geared toward improving the health and well-being of their customers. Diaita offers several products including smoothies, raw snacks, toast, sandwiches, and soups, but they are best known for their juices. Not only do they offer these juices for single item sales, but they also have a juice cleanse option. The cleanse is offered as a way to kick-start a healthier period in one’s life by detoxifying the body.

Alongside products that promote general health, they also assess common ailments and create juices to help address, comfort or cure the ailment. Some products focus more on women as they are a female-run business, but there are still many products available for men. A product they offer specifically for women is their Mocha Root Iced Latte. This has a dandelion root which helps with PMS and balancing hormones. Another juice that was mentioned during the interview is their most popular juice called the Hall of Fame. It contains kale, collard greens, cabbage, apples, cucumbers, celery, romaine lettuce, parsley, and lemon. This juice allows customers to be healthy on the run and get their greens without cooking or spending time in the kitchen.

The innovation emerged when the founders, Eddie and Shamiko, started drinking juices themselves and realized how much better they felt, more energized and healthier, and they wanted to share that with their community. Alongside their main product, juices, other innovative ideas became a part of making Diaita a sustainable business. This includes reusable bottles, incentives to recycle and reuse, donating food waste to farmers, and more. “It [being sustainable] was a natural part of [Eddie and Shamiko’s] lives and their values, so naturally those values translated to business values.”

Hannah shared, “Diaita means ‘way of life,’ that means every day you are doing something that benefits yourself and others.” They wanted to create a place that could serve the people of Canton by providing products that were made with intention. The intention is to give people the opportunity to enrich their life and their health. The mission behind this innovation is revolved around holistic healing, hence their saying, “food is medicine.” As Hannah said during the interview, “We feel our mission is to educate people on what they can be doing to live healthier, happier and longer lives.”

"Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food"

Inspiration

When talking about their inspiration for Diaita, Hannah smiled and talked about a time back in 2012 when Eddie and Shamiko first tried 100% cold-pressed juice. She referred me to the quote on Diaita’s website where Eddie talked about his inspiration, which was, “I thought it was the best juice I had ever tried. I had to know more. In my travels, I learned as much as I could about juicing and tasting many different recipes. I was hooked! When I returned home, I was disappointed when I couldn’t find cold-pressed juice here at home.” Shamiko and Eddie then decided that they needed to create such a place here in Canton, Ohio. Hannah mentioned to me what she loves about Diaita. She said, “I love how Diaita means ‘Way of Life,’ it truly is a perfect meaning for us here. From the way we get out products/ingredients, to our reusable glass containers, all the way to how our customers feel after having one of our products. Whether it’s our juice shots, our juice drinks, or even our smoothies.” With the notion that there was nothing in Canton, Eddie and Shamiko knew they had to step up and provide the people of Canton something better in terms of healthier options while using only 100% organic produce and reusable glass bottles. “Diaita’s was born with one goal in mind: to make the healthiest, purest, best-tasting cold-pressed juice we possibly can.”

Overall impact

The main goal of the company, Diaita, is to create the healthiest, purest, best-tasting cold-pressed juice possible, through the innovation of fresh, local and healthy ingredients. A phrase that the owners live by is “Food is medicine” and they incorporate that into their business through the ingredients that they use. Their innovation is incorporating these ingredients to make healthy juices for people on the go. Serving the people of Canton, and the surrounding communities, they are all about ingredients serving a purpose and creating specific juices that address certain ailments, taking into consideration customers’ health concerns. This is their main impact and they can target different people with a variety of health concerns. For example, their most popular drink is called the Hall of Fame, which is made with greens for people who don’t have the time to sit down and eat a full meal.

People can receive the required daily nutrients without the cooking and clean-up. This innovation not only impacts the local farmers and markets through locally sourced products, but they also compost and local farmers can come and use the compost to make mulch for their soil. Open every day except Sunday, Diaita can serve the community throughout the week from morning to evening, and with the various ingredients and specific juices, can serve different juices for each meal of the day, whether it is breakfast, lunch or dinner.

Business benefit

The motivation behind their innovation comes with a certain level of affinity for improving others' lives. With this comes bosses and employees who genuinely care for each other and their customers. Being an employee there not only guarantees a supportive and kind work environment, but healthy food options to enrich one’s life are made readily available. Diaita prides itself on being the stepping stone to a healthier lifestyle. In being an employee or customer there, one is guaranteed benefits. Due to the warm nature of the business, retention is not something that has been a challenge. Customers are offered an incentive to return by bringing in their empty juice bottle for $1 off their next juice. While they don’t have current plans to expand to other locations, with the growth of being health conscious in our society and the conveniences of grabbing a juice on-the-go, there is no doubt that Diaita will only become more popular. Diaita’s current estimates show they are earning an annual revenue of just over $150,000.

Social and environmental benefit

The innovation of this company impacts both society and the environment even in the smallest of ways. Everything is done with consideration and intention to create a positive and healthy impact on both the people and the planet. One of the main social benefits it has is on the community and people of Canton, who benefit from receiving a healthier option and alternative to cooking fresh and healthy foods, while also remaining tasty. A mission of the company is to educate the public on what they can be doing to live healthier and longer lives. If customers have questions or are unsure of healthy options, the employees can give consultation of specific juices or ingredients to help with certain health issues. Diaita is also mainly female run and likes to focus on social equality and female-specific products and juices, such as juices that help with periods and other issues that females may encounter.

Through an incentive to get a dollar off the next juice purchase, they encourage customers to bring back their glass bottles to be reused. This not only benefits the customers in receiving a discount, but it helps the company save money from continuously buying more bottles while also being environmentally friendly. Although the lids are not reusable, they are able to be recycled. Another social and environmental benefit is that they compost and welcome local farmers to use the compost for mulch to enrich their soil. With locally sourced products, the company cuts down on transportation emissions of pollution and also improves the local community’s economy. Being vegan, Diaita refrains from using and consuming any chicken or beef.

Interview

Hannah Englehart, Cashier and Marketing Coordinator