A Kent entrepreneur that started a cold pressed juice manufacturing business after gaining inspiration from traveling in Indonesia is celebrating the firm’s 5th birthday in style.
Alexandra Auger, the 27-year-old Managing Director of The Juice Executive, has seen sales hit £1.2m for the first time in its history after launching a new white label offer targeting independent outlets and achieving a 300% increase in its ‘Think Press’ e-commerce sales of organic and pressed juice cleanses.
A nationwide thirst for healthier drinks has seen interest in the firm’s products grow year-on-year and it has also added a number of high-profile names to its client base, including H&M Group, Boots No7 and Selfridges.
Over £500,000 has been spent on creating a state-of-the-art juicery in Chatham and three new appointments this year have taken the total workforce to 18 people.
It’s a far cry from when Alexandra first started, with just a juicer and a stainless steel bench in her garage. Even the logo was designed on Microsoft Word.
She says: “There’s been a lot of milestones along the way, from borrowing the money to help us start the fit-out of our manufacturing facilities, to hitting £1m in sales and acquiring the Radiance Cleanse brand in 2017.
“2019 has been focused on growing our brands, including our unique personalized juices for independent retailers and also corporate events. This has grown from a standing start last year to 5% of our total sales and this is increasing by the week.
The Juice Executive, which has been supported by the Manufacturing Growth Program, produces more than 100 different organic juices, covering turmeric, beetroot and orange and ginger.
It currently manufactures 600,000 bottles every year and these are supplied into brands that are listed on Abel & Cole, Ocado and in a host of UK independent retailers looking to stock healthy drinks.
Alexandra continued: “We’ve just received planning permission to build a new purpose-built facility on the current site and this will be the focus over the next two years.
“This will be a full build from the ground up and will give us the opportunity to look at energy efficiency/carbon savings, implementation of more automation, increased capacity and dedicated new product development capabilities. The healthier drinks marketplace is all about innovation and we need to continue to lead from the front.”
For more information: 
The Juice Executive
Tel: +44 (0) 1634 790962
Email: info@juiceexec.co.uk
www.thejuiceexecutive.co.uk