Juice Co. LG (Los Gatos, California) was founded on the premise that health should not have to be compromised in today's fast paced lifestyle. Now making healthy options more convenient than ever, the way it should be, is our cold-chain partner Juice Co. LG. They provide hand crafted, cold-pressed, organic juice for you to incorporate into your everyday life. Now offering delivery + curbside pick-up, they are definitely a business to watch.
Check out our interview with Owner Katelin as we cover Juice Co. LG's mission and ultimately why she chose to source Copra Coconut Water in today's saturated market for her very high-end, premium product. She shares her marketing knowledge with reading into product label verbiage and more!
Katelin, Juice Co. LG Owner
We love your dedication to clean products! Can you please share your mission/goal and why educating your audience is so important?
K: Thank you! This is a relentless industry, and there are many reasons most companies cut corners. It is HARD to get high margins when you're using clean ingredients and sourcing locally. From my perspective, you have to have a personal passion and commitment to using these products in order to stick with it and find ways financially to make it work. There are very few FDA requirements on packaging. The definitions for key marketing terminology like natural, made with real fruit, etc. are broad, and they are used as marketing tag lines to sell products - tricking the consumer to think something is healthy.
It's really the difference of the front-to-back review of a food product. The front label is covered in marketing + the back is where all of the ingredients are listed. We take educating our consumer base very seriously. We are in an extremely over saturated market and make a very high-end, premium product. It's one of those you get what you pay for scenarios -- and unless we are able to truly communicate our differences to our constituent base, it's likely they will purchase a cheaper product just because of trend or cost.
Our goal is to educate our consumers and help them look at food differently. We should eat food that fuels and heals our body. I always say - there is really no such thing as cheap food. Either you pay for it at the register or you pay for it in your health down the road.
Sourcing ingredients to meet standards can be a hard task. How do you cut the nonsense?
K: Yes - it is hard! We build all of our product recipes first for health benefits + then for cost/flavor. This is also why our products run a bit higher in price, because we still price them in order for us to make a small margin. We also network with other companies in our industry and we're always looking for new vendors that can help us cut costs. We also just make this a commitment. We simply don't use something if it's not going to positively impact our customers diet.
How did you find Copra?
K: I was approached by one of your lead Account Executives. He did copious follow up on our communications and even visited my store in-person while he was on the West Coast for a business trip. We are a small, local company. I was so impressed with his persistence with us and the time he took to educate us on the difference Copra offers. It resonated with me because that's how I have built my business model. Well, that and that he took so much time to work with us given the scale of the other companies Copra services.
What does locally-sourced mean to you? How did Copra fit into this mold?
K: Locally-sourced to me mostly means that I truly source products close (within 100-200 miles) of my operation. That being said, there are certain things that we just don't have direct access to in California, given our climate. So, I had to make a decision on how many products outside of that local zone I was willing to source.
I determined that based on the health benefits that were essential to be part of our product line, I needed to bring in 4 products outside of California (Turmeric, Ginger, Pineapple and of course, Coconuts). This is why we keep a limited offering of these exotic products, AND we choose to work with very specific suppliers on sourcing them. Suppliers that are able to commit to high-standards when it comes to sourcing + manufacturing + transit. Copra was our answer for coconut products.
How does Copra Coconut Water differ from others you've tried e.g. flavor profile?
K: Copra has an undeniable freshness. It is the only other coconut water I've tried that matches side by side to cracking open a fresh coconut. And that's because it truly is derived directly from fresh coconuts, with zero additives. Same with your coconut milk. You can also always tell the quality of products based on their shelf life. The shorter the shelf-life, the higher the quality :)
Is there anything you would say to business owners who want to source for quality but are scared that consumers won't pay for it?
K: This has to be something that you've set as a standard across your product line. Or that you have a section of your offerings dedicated to high-quality. You also have to show this commitment in all areas of your business. Additionally, I would encourage them to go back to the companies they are sourcing from for help. It's likely they will be able to provide collateral and social media assets to help communicate to the consumer base they are trying to reach. Again, back to education. Copra has been wonderful with that!
Which juice is your favorite and why? Does it matter to you what time of the day you consume this? Please include any specifics :)
K: I get this question almost daily! Honestly, my favorite juice depends on the day + what types of nutrients I'm trying to add into my diet at that time. I am a BIG fan of variety and consuming different juices throughout the week. It gives your body a variety of nutrients + follows the Chinese Medicine literature regarding eating the rainbow.
I would say I'm more of a green juice drinker by nature but I drink everything, truly. There isn't any juice on our menu that I don't love :) There are some juices that are better to drink at different times of the day, or more-so will provide different health benefits at different times of the day, but overall it's just good to blast your body with those nutrients!
Do you recommend a cleanse / juice for aspiring juicers?
K: Yes, I am a big proponent of cleansing. This is a personal opinion. It truly puts you in a mindset directed towards a healthy lifestyle. It helps you refocus, look at food differently, be more aware, you get the picture. These are elements beyond the obvious -- detox, building gut health, giving your digestive system a break, etc. I just did my longest juice cleanse in Jan 2020 -- 10 days. I felt AMAZING. I'm already planning my next 10-day. It removed all bloating I was having, reset my food mindset, and felt so energized and clean.
Of course this is not the recommendation for everyone. There are so many ways you can try cleansing to find the best fit for you. I talk a lot about this on our IG page both on our highlights + IGTV posts. Even a 1-day reset cleanse can be highly beneficial for most people. I know others that like to do a juice till dinner option. You know your body best so it's always best to do what you feel comfortable in!
