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North East independents interviewed: Andrew Hardie, Northern Juice

Jamie Hardesty talks to Andrew Hardie, a fourth generation Hexham greengrocer, about the launch of his exciting new firm Northern Juice, a cold pressed juice delivery service operating in Newcastle.

If you live or work in the city, the business will hand deliver your choice of cold pressed juice on a Monday, Wednesday or Friday morning.

“Think of it like the milk club at school, only more colourful!”

Launching the business, with Emma Handley, at the beginning of the year, Andrew explains that the firm was brought to life for three main reasons.

“We set the company up as a continued diversification of our greengrocery business, Staffords Greengrocery, which has seen continued growth in the development of its office fruit service over the past 3 years.

“We now provide fruit to offices with full nationwide delivery”, revealed Andrew, before paying tribute to another pivotal reason for starting up - his love of juicing.

“We just can’t get enough of the earthy flavours of a good cold pressed juice and the alive tingle you get from all the pure freshness.

“We have enjoyed juicing in this way for over 10 years, largely fuelled by our access to daily fresh produce, just now in the last couple of years that the health benefits of a cold pressed juice have become mainstream, which is a general reflection of the times.”

Cold pressing is a decades-old method of extracting liquid from plants without denaturing enzymes or breaking down nutrients with high levels of heat or oxygen.

“Our press teases every colourful, delicious drop of liquid out of a plant while keeping its health-giving properties intact, producing live juice that stays great for 72 hours.

“We wanted to make cold pressed juice available at a sensible price with a super simple subscription service. Think of it like the milk club at school, only more colourful!”

Andrew says the immediate goals for the firm centre around growing its subscriber base, developing new flavours and establishing a sound local retail distribution. However some challenges are already appearing to be tackled and overcome.

He continued: “There are inherent challenges with any subscription service. Even at a low cost you are asking a customer to commit to your brand / product and that takes time.

“To help with this we have made our subscription no contract, no minimum term. Another concern we had was the relatively short shelf life of the juices (ie three days from juicing) but this has actually become a benefit rather than a negative. The batch and use by dates ensure our customers know their juice is fresh as can be!

“Customers can pause, resume and cancel whenever they see fit. Other than that we have had an overwhelming reaction to our juices and service offering to date.”

On why he believes Northern Juice stands out in the marketplace Andrew paid tribute to the firm’s ethos of simplicity, practised in the correct way.

“We believe in the simple pleasures. We are not offering a cleanse package, weight management programme or lifestyle choice. Just a great tasting cold pressed juice, packed with vitality and pure flavour, delivered to your desk once, twice or thrice weekly.”

So what next for Northern Juice and its Juice Run? Just like the juices themselves, it seems the secret lies in creating the right mix.

“I am proud to say, I am a fourth generation greengrocer in a family business established, to the best of our knowledge, 93 years ago”, explained Andrew.

“We still get up at 2am to secure the best produce. We know our region and all our customers personally. Our client relationships are built up over years and last years because quality of service and accountability are the foundation of our business.

“[Moving forward] we want to create great tasting cold pressed juices, develop partnerships to extend the service, possibly with a food offering if we can find the right mix.”

Here at Bdaily we’re proud to share regional startup tales and share independent success. To find out more about this series, get in touch with Jamie at jamie.hardesty@bdaily.co.uk.