People were asking for it, now it has arrived.
Got Juiced in Trail had been patronized heavily by Rosslanders since the outlet first opened in April, 2011.
And those same people had been asking juice bar owners Penny and Howard Kuenle when they were going to bring their healthy and delicious drinks to the Golden City.
Just over three weeks ago Rosslanders got their wish and the second West Kootenay Got Juiced store opened in Rossland on Columbia Avenue beside the Post Office.
The store is already a nice fit with the active lifestyle of most Rosslanders, said Penny, and traffic through the store has been steadily increasing.
“They are active (here) and they know they can’t push their bodies so far without adverse effects,” she said. “You can’t ski, and rock climb and mountain bike if you don’t put healthy things back into your body.”
Got Juiced smoothies are those healthy things, with a menu of 50 different drinks made with whole fruit, green vegetables, yogurt and 100 per cent juice. Booster drinks can contain vega protein, bee pollen, hemp hearts, spirulina, chia seeds, flax seeds and acai.
Wraps made with avocado instead of wheat will soon be added to the menu, along with chocolate dipped bananas—a frozen banana dipped in hot Belgian chocolate, with coconut butter mixed in—and in the winter, borscht.
The biggest seller so far in Rossland is the Aloha, a mix of pineapple, mango and coconut milk. The body booster sells the best in Trail.
“I think people are starting to realize they need to remove the processed foods, and are getting back to traditional fruits and vegetables,” Penny said.
And she hopes that message resonates with the young adults in the city. She wanted teenagers to eschew their carbonated energy drinks and instead choose a healthy alternative.
“I think up here because the parents are so health minded, they educate the teenagers, they come in for the drinks,” Penny said.
Penny herself struggled with health problems for more than one year before she decided it was time to change her lifestyle. Instead of taking tests and visiting a handful of doctors each week, Penny visited Booster Juice and decided to change her diet.
“They still don't know what I was sick with—it was an autoimmune disease like cancer or lupus—and they had absolutely no idea what to do with me," she said. "But I haven't had any problems since I started doing this."
This is an unprocessed diet of whole foods and gluten-free products. So successful was the diet she wanted to spread the word and improve the community's knowledge about the importance of eating healthy foods and started the Trail shop after two years of experimenting on workable recipes and combinations of fruits and vegetables.
Last winter the Kuenle's expanded in Trail with a yogurt shop, an expansion that allows cliental to choose fruits and add toppings to a healthy snack.
In the next few months they also plan to take the Got Juiced gospel to Castlegar as they now try to finalize the details on a potential location.
Got Juiced is located beside the Post Office on Columbia Avenue, and are open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. between Monday and Saturday. Contact the Kuenle's for more information at 368-3380.
editor@rosslandnews.com