Innovation

"Bringing health to Guelph in a simple way” by using local, organic, non-GMO produce packaged in re-usable glass bottles.

Refresh was the first pressed-juice shop to come into Guelph, and has since been doing a wonderful job at providing consumers with an entirely new, healthy and convenient product. Cold-pressed juice is created by extracting the nutrient rich juice from various fruit and vegetable produce. The unique process that Refresh uses to create their juice uses hydraulic pressure to press the vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients out of the ingredients — while keeping exposure to oxygen and heat on low. The result is a higher quality, more flavorful and natural product, which leaves nothing behind but tasteless, nutrient-poor fiber. Due to the high quality, organic produce used to create the juices, as well as the minimal exposure to oxygen and heat before bottling, the shelf-life and color of the juices remain longer than any homemade product — making Refresh truly something special.

Inspiration

Refresh Juice Co. [more commonly referred to as simply, Refresh] is a small, locally owned business in Guelph, Ontario.

To owners Amanda and Whitney, Refresh is truly a dream come true. Since childhood, these two best friends have shared a passion for living and sustaining a healthy lifestyle. On their health journey, Amanda and Whitney quickly became passionate about consuming locally produced, organic, and nourishing food. One day,Whitney found herself at a yoga convention in Toronto, where she tried her very first “cold-pressed juice” — and the rest is history. Refresh Juice Co. was quickly born afterwards, with a mission, passion and inspiration to bring “easy, accessible health to Guelph”.

Overall impact

Since opening in August of 2015, Refresh Juice Co. has used their business as a means of creating incredible, positive impacts on the environment, society, and more. Through various efforts, including by not limited to: using local, organic, non-GMO produce and glass bottles as their packaging, Refresh has embodied the 12th UN Sustainable Development Goal — which seeks to ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns.

Business benefit

As a result of Refresh Juice Co. functioning with mindful consumption and production, they have been able to establish an authentic brand while gaining several other business benefits as well. As mentioned, by choosing the eco-friendly option of glass bottles, Refresh Juice Co. encourages customers to return the bottles in order for the store to reuse them. By reusing the bottles, they are able to not only reduce their ecological footprint, but lower production costs as well. Receiving internal benefits (reduced cost of production) from helping the external environment (reducing the negative impact on our planet) is a concept many businesses fail to adopt. In addition, Refresh does an excellent job tracking their consumption of fruits and vegetables and ensures their inventory is reflecting their current demand. By tracking their inventory effectively, they are eliminating waste and reducing the financial losses that accumulate from wasted produce.

Refresh Juice Co. and the innovation of cold press juicing are unique not only to the City of Guelph, but also to Canada. The owners are working extremely hard to earn a B. Corp certification, which would make them the only juicing businesses with this credential in the country. The B. Corp movement of “people using business as a force for good” reflects the Refresh Juice Co. businesses model and their long-term goals of providing health and wellness to individuals all over Canada (Why Do B Corps Matter, 2016). This certification, while giving them the competitive edge they need to expand, would also encourage other businesses to seek more sustainable means of production.

Social and environmental benefit

LOCALLY-SOURCED: SUSTAINABLE PRODUCTION

As part of their overall impact, Refresh Juice Co. has undertaken various efforts in order to greatly ameliorate the company’s environmental impact, global footprint and overall environmental sustainability. These efforts include: sourcing from local farmers, using organic, non-GMO ingredients and serving their product in reusable glass bottles.

At Refresh Juice Co., both staff and consumers understand the uncertainty of future environmental sustainability. With this in mind, Refresh chooses to put the environment first, by considering their global footprint every step of the way. Unlike their industrialized competitors, Refresh runs on values that aspires to create as minimal stress on the environment as possible, since they understand the importance of green living and sustainability. One of the main ways in which you can see their commitment to environmental sustainability is through their unique ingredients sourcing methods. All of the fresh ingredients used to create their juices are sourced from small-scale, local farms — which allows Refresh Juice Co. to stimulate the local economy and support sustainable agriculture, while also decreasing their carbon footprint through less means of transportation. Although, operating a business that heavily relies on fresh produce can be difficult, especially when considering Canada’s severe seasonal constraints. To combat this, Refresh has established deep ties with a local farm in Georgia, USA; and while this extra transportation is an externality, Refresh remains true to their beliefs of supporting as local as possible, regardless of the time of year.

In addition, locally obtained ingredients require little to no processing, and typically spend less time in refrigeration (Suzuki 2016), meaning that their ingredients are both local and of high quality freshness. As David Suzuki would attest, “It's not only how we choose to travel or heat our homes that determines our carbon footprint. What we eat also has a climate impact” (Suzuki 2016).

Organic, non-GMO Ingredients: SUSTAINABLE PRODUCTION

Aside from sourcing locally, Refresh Juice Co. has also committed to responsible environmental production in the sense that the vast majority of their ingredients are fully organic and non-genetically modified. These two factors are known to have a number of environmental benefits, so buying juice that is made from 100% organic, non-GMO produce free of the pesticides and herbicides, remains at the center of their value proposition.

One of the most obvious benefits to organic agriculture is the fact it reduces the amount of contaminated water through farming mechanisms. In order to be organic, any fertilizer used in the process must be organic which is compost, animal manure or green manure which vastly decreases the risk of pollution in the ground. In addition to that, organic farming greatly lowers the use of non-renewable energy since it does not use any agrochemical needs during farming. In addition to this, organic agriculture works against the greenhouse effect due to the fact it can keep carbon in the soil through various management practices. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations states “…a number of studies revealed that soil organic carbon contents under organic farming are considerably higher. The more organic carbon is retained in the soil, the more the mitigation potential of agriculture against climate change is higher,” (FAQ). Since Refresh’s products are organic, they are subsequently creating incredible environmental benefits with their products.

GLASS BOTTLE: SUSTAINABLE CONSUMPTION

The final way Refresh ensures environmental sustainability and responsible consumption is through their inventive glass bottle packaging, which compared to plastic alternatives, greatly reduces disposable waste as a bi-product. Glass has many advantages, mostly for environmental reasons. Glass is a product that can be recycled forever, with no loss in quality.

When Refresh began, the founders had no doubt in their mind their products would come in a glass bottle, as opposed to the commonly used plastic bottle alternatives. When asked about this, Amanda replied, “From day one, we had the intention of using glass bottles, even though we knew the cost per bottle was going to be much higher.” This decision, although more costly, proves once again their commitment to sustainability.

Refresh currently charges a $1.00 deposit fee for all of they glass bottles that leave the store with customers, with the concept that upon return of the bottle, the customer will receive $1.00 off. Although these bottles need to be washed, which uses water and often chemicals, they are less likely to end up in a landfill when the consumer is done with the juice inside.

If the consumer were to recycle the glass bottle on their own, there are many benefits that go along with this including, saving the raw materials to produce more glass, less energy demanded if less production, and cuts CO2 emissions substantially. According to the Glass Packaging Institute, a ton of carbon dioxide is reduced for every six tons of glass that is recycled (Why Recycle Glass).

In general, Refresh Juice Co. not only values environmental sustainability in terms of responsible production and consumption, but all of their practices revolve around it.

SOCIETAL Benefits of Refresh Juice Co.

Another part of Refresh Juice Co.’s overall impact is their benefit to society. In today’s fast paced environment, consumers often seek easy, fast and convenient food options; however, with this often follows compromising health. A few years ago, there were virtually no quick and healthy options for Guelph consumers who were looking to alleviate their hunger, while also keeping in mind their waistline — luckily for them, Refresh Juice Co. helped bridge that gap.

As mentioned by Amanda, co-owner and founder, Refresh believes in the health power of organic, which is why all of the juices are made solely from organic produce. While debates over the validity of organic being “better” remain constant and controversial, countless studies have proven that organic foods are in fact much higher in nutrient quality. In fact, organic crops have been shown to contain significantly more vitamin C, iron, magnesium, and phosphorus, and have a higher content of nutritionally significant minerals, with lower amounts of certain heavy metals compared to conventional produce (Spencer, 2016). In addition, organic crops are drastically less likely to contain contaminants from synthetic fertilizers, pesticide, nitrates, herbicides, and fungicides (Worthington, 2001) — all of which have possible links to poor health and certain types of cancer (Canadian Cancer Society).

In addition to using more nutrient ingredients themselves, the process by which the juices are created also yield for a better, more nutrient product offering. Refresh Juice Co. uses a method called “pressing” to create their liquid melodies. As Amanda explained, the process they use to press their juices is quite different from something anyone could do at home with a standard juicer. In this case, the ingredients are pressed are at incredibly slow rate, to ensure all the nutrients from the produce are removed. At the end, the only thing left behind is pure, bland fiber — which contains no nutritional value whatsoever. In essence, every single nutrient found in the food will be also found in the juice, making the product one of an even higher quality.

Simply put, Refresh Juice Co. is helping solve the issue of finding easy and healthy meal options by offering an incredibly nutrient dense product for the people of Guelph and Southwest Ontario. As Amanda explained it, Refresh is “bringing health to Guelph in an easy way”.

Interview

Amanda, Co-Owner and Founder