Most juice start-ups are faced with the decision of which juicer they should use to build their business. This is not an easy decision, and is obviously super important so I’ve come up with what I feel are the three most important factors to consider.

1. Large Batches or Single Servings
There are four main business models for a juice business: Delivery, juice bar, wholesale, and combination. The business model your company is utilizing will be the main factor in determining which juicer you should be using. Different businesses have different goals. A wholesale or delivery juice business should focus on producing as much juice per hour as efficiently as possible, while a juice bar making juice made-to-order should focus on the consumer experience above all else and be OK with a less efficient process. Making one serving at a time will never be as efficient as making 20 at a time, but you do get other less tangible value out of a smaller machine, like being able to make juice in front of the customers instead of hidden away in the back kitchen.

2. Front-of-House or Commercial Kitchen
If you are fortunate enough to have a large commercial kitchen, you have the freedom to use a large commercial machine like the Goodnature X-1 that can give you the low labor costs. That being said, if you have a juice bar or cafe you should really be making juice front-of-house. A juicer like the X-1 Mini is versatile enough to make both made-to-order juice and batches of 3-4 bottles of juice in front-of-house. Customers will pay more for fresh juice than juice that they aren’t sure of when it was made. In fact, in a poll we ran on our website, 89% of people said they would pay more for fresh. Putting the word “fresh” on a bottle of juice is not enough to give customers confidence that the juice is actually freshly made. They want to see the process, smell the aroma, and be part of the experience. Don’t tell them it’s fresh, show them it’s fresh, show themshow them. The Goodnature M-1 is the first commercial juice press built specifically for making juice on-demand, one glass at a time. It is beautifully designed, with a small footprint of less than 12 inches wide and is perfect for making juice front-of-house, like a barista making coffee.

3. Would You Pay More for Fresh? Poll

4. Budget
Last but not least, you will need to consider your budget. Naturally, your instinct will tell you to find something low priced in order to save money for your business, like a centrifugal or “slow” juicer for $1,000 – $3,000, but something you might not consider is how much that machine is really costing your business in the long run. With a true cold-press (hint: if there’s no press, it’s not a cold-press) you can see as much as 30% savings in average produce cost which can mean the difference between losing money and being profitable at the end of the year.
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