MINE Juice Bottle!

I can’t tell you enough about the cooking talent Cochin holds. I personally know of so many home cooks and bakers who make the most delicious food. Many of them sell their products to friends and family. Many of them want to take the next step and expand their business and its output. And It pains me to see how many of them hold back their dream and consider being stuck in a rut adequate enough.

Enter SUJA JACOB, home cook and now entrepreneur and her brand MY JUICE BOTTLE to instill some confidence and give all those talented food artists at home that much needed push! The very idea for her business came about in the simplest manner. Suja, a post graduate in Home Science, has always been interested in food and nutrition. It came to her notice that her children tended to consume quite a bit unhealthy canned juices and fizzy drinks. With the idea of replacing these sugar ridden preservative factories, she brought about the concept of including fresh fruit juices in their diet. Initially it was all freshly squeezed juices and blended juice mixes. Her children loved them!

The thought spread and with encouragement from her family and friends, “My Juice Bottle” was brought to life! “My Juice Bottle was started with the idea of including fresh fruit juices in a person’s diet, thereby replacing the commonly available artificial juices of today” says Suja.

The core product that “My Juice Bottle” has on offer are fruit concentrates made with manually extracted fresh fruit juice and a minimal amount of sugar syrup. The USP of the product is that it completely avoids preservatives and other additives. “Because I don’t add any preservatives, the shelf life of the product is about 40 days. My bottles are all 500 ml and they serve up to 10 people. They need to be kept refrigerated at all times!” The absence of additives also helps avoid the issue of allergic reactions. The flavour of the fruit is also retained in all its purity, thus making the drink a rather refreshing one.

“My juice Bottle” might be the simplest way to introduce fruits to children and get them to enjoy the flavours. Packed with energy, vitamins and minerals (and absolutely delicious) no child would say no to a glass of chilled juice right after a game or for a little boost while studying.

And let me tell you about the bottle! It is aesthetically pleasing, easily manageable and portable! Suja credits her son with the branding, bottling and labelling aspects. The catchy name, the smart bottle and the fanastic product, all make up for a mix that is a sure fire success.

“For a good end product, the raw material needs to be the best!” and we agree with Suja 100%. “My Juice Bottle” features juice concentrates of grapes, pineapple, mango, passion fruit and Chinese orange. Most of the fruits are bought from the high range region. 

The passion fruit and Chinese orange are sourced from their personal estates. Despite being sourced from their own farms, Suja makes sure that each fruit is soaked well in pure water and cleaned thoroughly to ensure utmost quality, cleanliness and hygiene.

She tells me an interesting story revolving around mangoes. Once she’d made mango juice concentrate from mangoes she had personally chosen from the high range. That batch turned out the most amazing, refreshing juice, so refreshing in fact that she received several orders from friends. Once this batch was completely sold out, she visited a good outlet in Cochin and with the same scrutiny picked out the choicest mangoes. The result did not turn out as expected. “Constant learning always happens. After many experiments, errors and triumphs, you start to understand what type of fruit works best in juices. The variety and place of purchase plays an unbelievably important role as well!”

Suja says that her concentrates are extremely versatile. From flavouring ice creams and milkshakes, to creating fruit smoothies and spreading atop pudding layers, this concentrate is as adaptable as they come. We move to the kitchen where she whips up a decadent GRAPE SMOOTHIE for me. She even shared the recipe with me:

–         – Cold Milk: ½ glass

–         – Vanilla Ice cream: 1 scoop

–         – “My Juice bottle” Grape concentrate: 15 ml

–        –  Black Grapes: Chopped to be used as garnish

–          –Add the milk and the grape concentrate into the blender and blend well to combine

–          –Add in the ice cream to this mix and blend for the shortest time so that the ice cream does not melt completely

–          –Add the chopped grapes on top and pour a little more of the concentrate atop the smoothie

–         – Serve chilled in tall glasses 

      Creamy and frothy, I could not get enough of this drink! You could also blend in some nuts and raisins along with some black currant ice cream to get a true grapey twist! The second drink I tasted was the PASSION FRUIT . I am not a fan of passion fruit let me say. I am now an official convert! The drink smelt like a field of passion fruit and served chilled, totally hit the spot! 

The piece de resistance however, was the CHINESE ORANGE drink that was sampled last. It was so fragrant! It smelt like the ripest oranges, fresh cut flowers and had a lovely citrusy twang that was accented beautifully by the marginal amount of sugar added.

“My Juice Bottle” has big plans in store! Talks are in place for a tie up with WOW:Homemade. The products will be featured on their website ready for purchase shortly. Suja plans to increase her market segment by adding new fruit flavours into her kitty. She also plans to appeal to the health conscious crowd with a range of delightful detox waters. Good going Suja! We can’t wait to see you hit greater heights!