JuiceBot is a company that strives to deliver juice without any preservatives or additives, therefore revitalizing the current distribution model of healthy foods and beverages. In this Q&A article, Editor Ambika Vartak interviewed John Yanyali, CEO of JuiceBot. The article will explore JuiceBot’s purpose in entering the food-distribution market as well as its competitive advantages.

Ambika Vartak: Tell us about your company JuiceBot and how it got started.

John Yanyali: JuiceBot was founded with the objective of transforming the distribution system for healthy food and beverages that have a short shelf-life, a way to deliver a product that contains no preservatives, emulsifiers or additives. Our mission is to provide people with access to nutritious food and beverage.

AV: There is a growing trend of selling natural, cold-pressed juices within the market. What made you decide to sell cold-press juice through an automated machine?

JY: As juice was gaining a lot of traction on the coasts, we wanted to learn how we could influence the Midwest to take up this trend, and through that, we learned that there was a distribution problem when it came to cold pressed juice, which led to creating the JuiceBot. We created a new model in order to make healthy foods and beverages as convenient and accessible as getting a soda from a vending machine. JuiceBot is trying to enhance and expand on the value that traditional juice bars offer by making healthy juice available everywhere from apartment buildings to gyms to grocery stores. We believe JuiceBot saves our customers time, streamlines customer experiences, and creates an opportunity for resources to be better utilized for higher revenues. If vending machines can serve up sodas, Slurpees, and snacks, why not cold-pressed juice? That’s the concept behind the Juicebot, a new machine that will serve up a convenient pour of four different healthy beverages on demand.

AV: What are some of the health benefits of motivating corporate markets to drink cold-press juice?

JY: Soda and highly processed juice sales have steadily declined in the past decade, they have been replaced with healthier drink options, such as juice, coconut water and kombucha. JuiceBot is really changing the way that people access nutrition. As businesses lean towards a workplace that incentivizes fitness, group activities and wellness in general, having a Juicebot on the premises shows the commitment of any corporation in the welfare of their employees. This enhances employee retention. An article at Inc.com by John Rampton explains in detail how Silicon Valley has become notorious for its free meals and other unique perks to improve employee retention.

AV: How does JuiceBot ensure that the quality and distribution of the juice is upheld?

JY: JuiceBot ensures the quality and distribution of the juice is upheld by testing which helps us remain confident we’re providing the highest level of food safety to our consumers. It’s part of a wider food safety program that also includes sensors providing information on juice levels and temperature control within a machine. We worked with a biotechnology company to develop a rapid food safety test that can detect pathogens, like salmonella and listeria, in under 24 hours. Routine food safety testing generally requires two weeks between submission of the sample and receipt of the test result. Equipped with this new technology, JuiceBot worked with leaders in California to amend its food safety legislation to allow the Department of Public Health to issue a variance for “dispensing bulk potentially hazardous food” from vending machines. At present, Juicebot’s is the only product to have received this variance. All of the juice is distributed in a biodegradable cup made out of corn. Our juice is 100 percent made from fruits and vegetables. We buy local to support our local farming community, and to prevent unnecessary loss of nutrients, which is the result of produce being harvested and then spending days in transit. Buying local also reduces the environmental impact of our food. We help avoid a large carbon footprint through overseas plane travel and long truck trips, all of which cut down on fuel consumption and air pollution.

AV: What are the different types of juices that are served? Are there any customer favorites?

JY: JuiceBot’s robotic kiosks currently dispense 4 preset flavors; The Clover (kale, cucumber, celery, spinach, pear, cilantro, mint and lime), The Quench (watermelon, jicama, strawberry, mint and lime), The Sunrise (carrot, orange, coconut water, lemon, ginger and turmeric) and The Gingersnap (fuji apple, green apple, ginger and lemon). We are also providing our customers the ability to mix and match from the flavors that are available, allowing them to create their own unique juice blends. The Clover and The Gingersnap are customer favorites for now but we see different trends each season.

AV: How does JuiceBot develop inspiration for creating recipes?

JY: When we first started operating , we felt really intimidated by all the crazy combos out there— in the grocery store alone, we saw some bottles of juice with a million different ingredients. 2 1/2 strawberries here, 2/3 of a mango there, 27 blueberries. We thought we would pull together four of our favorite simple juice recipes to get started. These juice recipes all use easy-to-find fruits and veggies, and most of the juices have less than three ingredients. They are all sweetened naturally with fruit, so we know they are nutritious. This was a great way to get our feet wet with juicing. If anyone is looking to start adding green juice to their diet, this is a great place to start. Cucumbers and celery are both packed with water, making them excellent candidates for juicing. And green apples add tons of sweetness and fruity flavor to the juice. This juice is super refreshing and hydrating—perfect for summer. If you like the spicy kick of ginger well then our apple-lemon-ginger recipe is for you. The sweetness of apples are a great balance to the heat of ginger.

AV: What is the technology behind the process of distributing the juice?

JY: We have begun cold-pressed fruit and vegetable beverages, prepared every day in a commercial kitchen and poured immediately into sterile stainless-steel tanks for transport to the location. These “kegs” are equipped with agitators to keep the particles in suspension and are held under refrigeration throughout the process, maintaining a cold chain supply from the preparation facility to the Juicebots in the field. The process helps protect the juice from oxidation caused by light and oxygen, allowing the juice inside to stay nutritious for a longer period and eliminating the waste caused by plastic bottles. JuiceBot uses less power than a regular vending machine and therefore has less of a carbon footprint. The machines are also remotely monitored for issues like cup jams, sold out flavors and customer complaints.

AV: How does JuiceBot differentiate itself from other companies?

JY: While the old system favored pre-packaged, longest shelf life, and just mass in general, the latest version of Juicebot vends its fresh juice drinks into compostable cups made out of corn. What makes JuiceBot unique is not the machine itself, but rather the whole supply chain from kitchen to Bot. JuiceBot is the first and only approved machine that can serve healthy food and beverages in California.

AV: What is JuiceBot’s mission and vision for the next 5 years?

JY: Our mission is to change the distribution model to fit good healthy food, not the other way around. Our goal is to leverage technology to rethink the distribution challenges that fresh food companies face, while expanding the reach of juice bars and creating cashless and cashierless convenience for customers on the go.

For more information on JuiceBot, please visit the following links:

Website: www.thejuicebot.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/juicebot/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JuiceBots

Twitter: https://twitter.com/JuiceBotSF