Juicy business sprouts up in Sask.

REGINA – Cold-pressed juice is said to be a five billion dollar industry in North America and the fad is now sprouting up in Saskatchewan.

Thrive Juice opened a store in Saskatoon in April and charges about $10 for its cold-pressed juices. Glow Juice is now working to open a permanent location in Regina.

“Our production is getting more and more every day,” said Leslie Genoway, the owner of Glow Juicery Regina.

It takes between four to eight pounds of fruits and veggies to make one bottle of the $8.50 Glow Juice. The company began operating in Regina only two weeks ago in the backroom of Sprout Catering. It’s still waiting to move into its own storefront location, but already it’s having difficulty making the drinks fast enough.

“Especially for us in Saskatchewan, when we look for convenience and we don’t always have access to the most fresh or readily available produce,” said Genoway.

According to cold-press juice advocates, our body can better absorb nutrients in liquid form.

“If I were to give you a cucumber and you were to eat it, your percentage of absorption for your vital nutrients, vitamins, minerals and enzymes will be significantly lower than if you were to use a cold pressed juice,” said Genoway.

However, a local nutritionist is not convinced that cold-pressed juice is worth the price. Kaylee Michnik, a public health nutritionist with the Regina Qu’Appelle Health Region, said drinking juice means consuming calories and sugar, without that feeling of being full.

“There is some benefit from drinking them, but it’s not optimum benefit, because you could just be eating the whole fruit and vegetable and getting the full nutritional value,” said Michnik.

Michnik’s concern is that whole fruits and veggies contain fiber, found in the pulp or the peel, which is lost in the conversion to juice: “You might not be getting the best value for your dollar.”

“You know that money you’re spending on juice, could really go a long way in buying whole fruits and vegetables,” said Michnik.

Glow Juice admits the science backing up its argument is still in the works, but contends cold-pressed juice is a much healthier alternative to many other snacks.

“Not that this is to take away from the fruits and vegetables that you’re already consuming in one day, it’s to add,” said Genoway.