Goodnature Aims for Widespread Placement of New Countertop Cold-Pressing Unit

There’s no question that cold-pressed juice, one of the fastest-growing beverage categories in recent years, is nearing mainstream status. The beverage, marketed as having a higher nutritional content and a better taste profile as compared to conventional options, has steadily drawn new consumers to the category and elicited the rise of packaged brands like Evolution Fresh and Suja in natural and conventional grocery channels as well as the rapid expansion of brick-and-mortar cold-pressed juice companies, including Pressed Juicery and Juice Press. Even stalwart juice shop Jamba Juice has gotten into the mix, launching a new line of high pressure processed, cold-pressed juices to select stores.

As demand for cold-pressed juice continues to expand, Goodnature, one of the largest manufacturers of commercial cold-pressing equipment, sees opportunity to make production simple and feasibly available for a wide range of retailers, particularly neighborhood cafes and small, independent grocers, with the launch of a new machine designed to fit on most commercial kitchen countertops.

Goodnature will this week announce the release of its Countertop Press, a machine that was developed for retail businesses with limited space and with a sleek design that would allow for front-of-the-store display. Measuring 22” x 8″ x 24,” the unit weighs 80 lbs. By comparison, the company’s next smallest unit, the Goodnature X1, has dimensions of 36” x 34” x 67” and a weight of 430 lbs.

The launch of Goodnature’s countertop unit comes amid a sustained influx in production of cold-pressed juice, much of it coming from early-stage companies. Yet while both on- and off-premise retailers continue to add cold-pressed juice brands to their offerings, some are beginning to produce their own varieties. Whole Foods, for one, is adding a Goodnature X1, to each of its new stores, according to executives of the equipment company.

A Goodnature company release hails the Countertop Press as “paving the way for budding entrepreneurs and established business owners looking to incorporate cold-pressed juice into their enterprise, enabling them to gain entry and capitalize on a growing category.” Goodnature states that the new machine is capable of producing up to nine gallons of juice per hour, equating 72 16 oz. bottles. Ease of use was also a high priority for the company, with no assembly of the machine required and operation in which the user can choose from one of four pre-programmed cycles ranging from a “slow and gentle” to “fast and high-force.”

In a demonstration of the unit at BevNET company headquarters in Watertown, Mass., brothers Eric Wettlaufer, Vice President and Lead Engineer, Goodnature Products and Charles Wettlaufer, CEO, Pomeroy Equipment Co, which distributes Goodnature machines, explained that the development of the Countertop Press was over a year in the making. Designed by company employees who previously worked as aerospace engineers, the guiding principle for the unit was simplicity and to allow for limited expertise required for production of cold-pressed juice. The Wettlaufer brothers noted the use of plastic parts and air-based pressure for the actual pressing of fruit and vegetables, as well as disposable and compostable press bags (the industry standard is single plastic sewn juice bags) both of which were included in the design to offer users efficient turnover and cleaning of the machine between batching.

“Before this press, you had to build your business space around juice production,” Eric Wettlaufer said in the company release. “Now you can incorporate cold pressed juice into your business without remodeling. You can just drop this press onto your existing countertop.”

While Goodnature, whose machines are used by over 1,000 juice companies in 54 countries, expects brisk sales of the Countertop Press in the U.S., many of the units may end up in Europe and Asia. Charles Wettlaufer told BevNET that as global interest in cold-pressed juice has surged, Pomeroy’s international business has dramatically surpassed that of domestic revenue and now represents 70 percent of sales, a reversal from 2013.