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Starbucks Joins Juice Trend, Opens Massive Juicery To Supply Stores
Photo via Evolution Fresh on Facebook
The juice trend has gone wild here in L.A. It's hard to go out without someone mentioning a cleanse they've recently done or some wild new combo they've tried. Heck, there's even a juicing ATM vending pressed fruits and veg at all hours of the day. Despite the fact that California's economy is still suffering, many people are willing to pay over $10 for these liquid fruits and veggies, which sometimes looks more like swamp water. Starbucks is no fool. They've gotten in on the trend too.
The company snapped up Evolution Fresh from founder Jimmy Rosenberg in 2011, who also launched widely sold Naked Juice. (Naked is now going through a class action lawsuit for its projected health claims.)
To support the demand for more juice, Starbucks has moved the Evolution factory from it's original San Bernardino factory to Rancho Cucamonga. The new facility is 264,000-square-feet and cost $70 million to build.
Is this a sign that juicing has jumped the shark?
Says the L.A. Times:
Now it's angling for a bigger sip of the $1.6-billion fresh juice craze, shifting production of its Evolution Fresh juice brand to the new factory Wednesday. But even though the site can generate four times as much nectar as the brand's original plant in San Bernardino, high demand means that both factories must keep running for now. "We're on a tear, a significant growth curve," said Chris Bruzzo, general manager of Evolution Fresh.
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