Today we’d like to introduce you to Robert Humbert and Ashley Mcafee.
Robert and Ashley, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
We started out as an online juice detox wanting to help our friends & family get back to their fitness goals after Hurricane Harvey devastated the city. It caught on quickly by word of mouth and Instagram, and before we knew it, we were moving our makeshift set up out of our townhome and into our East End production facility.
We also opened up our first retail kiosk in the Houston Galleria in May of this year which has been a huge success and the place to visit in the mall. In October we opened our 2nd retail location in the East End of Downtown, and we’re currently in the process of scouting our space for our 3rd location as we prepare our shipping services.
Since we started online a year ago, we’ve sold over 30,000 bottles of fresh pressed organic goodness to our fellow Houstonians.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
There have been many challenges since we started last year, but we’ve tried our best to learn from the struggles and not allow them to stagnate our growth. Learning and building a new business from scratch that you know nothing about other then you love to juice means you have to be open to getting some bumps and bruises.
Our biggest struggles were self-inflicted in the beginning simply because we did not do enough due diligence and had to deal with the consequences of being either uninformed or misinformed.
Also, finding ambitious, enthusiastic, motivated people that understand our vision and are willing to grow with us has been a huge hurdle. We’ve had to wrap our heads around having to wear many hats until we are able to get great people in place.
Lastly, dealing with vendors has been a huge headache especially vendors that are not local. It can become very frustrating when you begin to feel like a vendor has more control over whether or not you can provide your product to your customers than you do.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Juice Easy – what should we know?
We are a Houston made organic plant-based beverage brand, and our concept is grab and go. So we make juicing as convenient and easy for the customer as possible without jeopardizing the quality of our product. Our fresh pressed fruit and veggie beverages are made daily, have no additives or preservatives, no added natural sweeteners and have a refrigerated shelf life of five -seven days.
Our mission is to make drinking clean and green cool, so we plan to target the areas where easy access to fresh produce is limited. The Galleria allows us to reach people of all ages and ethnicities as well as educate a multitude of potential “Juiceaholics” who spread the word for us. While our retail store in the East End gives us direct access to those, who can’t get to or afford Sprouts, Trader Joe’s & Whole Foods but want an affordable quality juice.
We’ve turned so many juicing non-believers and anti-fruit and veggie consumers into juice heads. Those who proudly once claimed they don’t like or eat fruits and vegetable now boast online that they love Juice Easy and now eat real whole food because of our gateway drinks. Organic goodness is contagious.
Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
Hard work and relentlessness in delivering our message. We know what juicing has done for us, so it’s imperative that we let others know. Doesn’t mean they have to Juice Easy but juice anybody because Houston is progressive and has so many juice options now or juice at home. Health and wellness starts by what you put into your body, so we work very hard each day to put out a product that is healthy, nutritious and taste really good.
Pricing:
- A La Carte 12oz Bottles are $6.50
- A La Carte 16oz Bottles are $7.50
- A La Carte 2.5oz SureShots are $3.00
- Juice Easy One Day Starts @ $39.00
- Juice Easy One Day Starts @ $78.00
- Juice Easy One Day Starts @ $117.00
- Juice Easy One Day Starts @ $156.00
Contact Info:
- Address: East End Store: 3420 Rusk St Ste #9
The Galleria: Mall 4 Second Fl (Between Armani & The Ugg Store) - Website: www.JuiceEasyOnline.com
- Phone: 8324343486
- Email: juiceeasyonline@gmail.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/juiceeasyonline
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/juiceeasyonline
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/juiceeasyonline
- Yelp: www.yelp.com/biz/juice-easy-houston-10
- Other: www.instagram.com/juiceeasyonline
Image Credit:
Christopher Winfield, Justin Bowers
Getting in touch: VoyageHouston is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
