Zach Berman and Ryan Slater have come a long way since launching Canada's first ever mobile juice and smoothie bar in Canada back in 2011. Zach was recently awarded a BC Business 30 UNDER 30 award, they've been featured on EAT STREET TV and I imagine most of you have enjoyed their juices and smoothies. They've become a part of the fabric of this city in a short amount of time and a bit of an overnight success story. Their brand, The Juice Truck, has gone from a single food truck in Gastown to a successful packaged cleanse (thejuicecleanse.ca) and in a few weeks they're opening the doors of a storefront within new headquarters to grow their business even further.
The Juice Truck founders Zach Berman and Ryan Slater in front of their new operation
I took a tour of their new spot located at 5th Avenue and Manitoba, a zone I personally refer to as Southeast False Creek - because I live a couple blocks away in SEFC proper - but what is technically a part of Mt Pleasant. The storefront and community space is the most exciting component for consumers but for fellow entrepreneurs/nerds like myself what's under the hood is what's really exciting: a few thousand square feet of space where they'll be ramping up production and getting even more product out to the people. They were buzzing when I arrived today, getting ready to open the store in a few weeks (where they'll serve juice, meals, and more), as well as working on getting the back end up and running with production and distribution.
A work in progress, this neon will be surrounded by greenery when their storefront opens
HERE is a more in-depth look at what's been happening in the space c/o Scout Magazine. Of course they were on top of this back in March as they are the online authority when it comes to independent food and drink in Vancouver. Watch Scout for news of The Juice Truck store's opening date and watch Ryan and Zach as they continue doing awesome stuff in our city.
