Video: Juice Served Here Co-Founder Discusses Rapid Expansion, Untapped Opportunities for Cold-Pressed Juice


With the launch of a new 20,000 sq. ft. production facility and foray into high pressure processing (HPP), Juice Served Here is aiming for continued expansion in the availability of its raw, cold-pressed juices, yet is focused on maintaining its identity of “Never Conventional.”

Launched in 2013 by former fashion industry executives Greg Alterman and Alex Matthews, Juice Served Here began with a single retail store in L.A., producing and blending juices on-site. The company has since added 11 locations in the L.A. market, operates standalone coolers at local cafes and retail shops, and delivers juice cartons and cleanse packs locally. Juice Served Here is set to open two more locations, giving it a total of 10 new stores in 2015.

The growth elicited the development of its new manufacturing and bottling plant as well as national overnight shipping, a distribution initiative that, also along with other wholesaling opportunities, gave way to the launch of a secondary line of juices that undergo HPP. Its primary line of juices and nut milks have a three-day shelf life; the HPP products are safe to drink for approximately 60 days.

In an interview with BevNET CEO John Craven, filmed at Juice Served Here headquarters in downtown L.A., Matthews discusses the decision to add the HPP line and its importance for continued expansion of the brand.

“We quickly realized that you can can do that ‘raw’ with your own store network, but we we getting a lot of inquiries from corporate customers and some the local, upscale artisanal grocery stores and a lot of hotels. We were basically saying ‘no’ to these people. We started looking at how we would extend our shelf life without pasteurization. We looked at a bunch of different technologies… but we kept coming back to HPP because it’s readily available and relatively easy in terms of the mechanics of it.”

Despite its recent roll out, the HPP products already represent a “substantial business” for the company, Matthews said. And while he views expanded distribution of the HPP line as a key to the development of Juice Served Here, Matthews views the retail store business and its “aspirational” nature of its branding as the foundation for its future.

“I think the stores have become the ultimate statement of who we are,” Matthews said. “They’re the living, breathing part of our brand. But it’s so hard to tell that story when you see a juice on a shelf next to a ton of other brands. When you’re in the store, you’re engorged by the experience that we’re presenting.”

Watch this video to hear much more from Matthews on Juice Served Here’s approach to wholesaling and the types of retail and foodservice venues that the company seeks out for its HPP juices. Matthews also discusses what he sees are untapped markets for cold-pressed juice and the why he sees a growing and important symbiotic relationship between coffee and juice.