Since its establishment in 2014, Greenhouse Juice Co. has continued its mission to create organic, vegan beverages served in reusable glass bottles. Promising nutritious drinks that are also delicious, the company has become a leading example of what it means to be healthy and sustainable at the same time.
According to co-founders Emma, Anthony, and Hana, cold-pressed juices were a staple in their diet for a long time; embracing this habit was key to staying healthy during long travels. When they returned to their homes in Toronto, however, they were surprised to find a complete lack of cold-pressed juices bottled in glass. That is when they decided to make their own.
Using organic vegetables and fruits, Greenhouse aims to produce healthy plant-based and sustainably accessed cold-pressed juices for the everyday city dweller. Besides its environment-friendly packaging, the company aims to reduce its carbon footprint at every step of the production process; starting with ‘seconds’ of produce that is locally sourced, organic, and GMO-free.
After the juice has been extracted and bottled, the left-over fibre is sent back to the farms where it is then used as compost to help new crops grow. Works are underway to even further repurpose their fibre into sustainable pizza crusts and dog biscuits; in 2020 Greenhouse sent 882 pounds of celery pulp to Earth Pup, a plant-based dog treat company. Greenhouse even encourages its consumers to recycle by offering a points system for any glass bottles brought back to one of their stores.
Four years later, 2018 marked a new beginning in their company, not only with the introduction of their diversified beverage lines that now include boosters, kombucha, plant-based milk and lemonade but also a new safe Quality Foods (SQF)-, HACCP-certified, organic-, and kosher-certified plant. With the opening of a new and improved plant, Greenhouse has expanded their beverages into grocery stores across Canada in an improved attempt to create beverages that are sustainable and accessible for all.
Most impressive, however, is their ability to produce juices that are 100% additive and preservative-free without relying on pasteurization or HPP processes. Instead, they use an innovative technology called Light Filtration, which utilizes ultraviolet light rays to filter potential pathogens from beverages while preserving taste, nutrients, and enzymatic life.
“[The] decision to use light filtration rather than thermal pasteurization or HPP has a significant impact on our energy use,” says Greenhouse on using less energy than other preserving technologies. ”Our technologies use light (cold UV-C rays of a 254-nanometer wavelength, to be precise) and advanced fluid dynamics to achieve a 5-log (or 100,000x) reduction in microbiological load. This stops micro-organisms (which occur naturally on produce) from multiplying, making our juices 100,000 times safer–and thus 100,000 times better–than ever before, without damaging taste or nutritional profile.”
With the rise of demand for sustainable and healthy food options that consumers can trust, especially for those leading busy lives, Greenhouse is steadily on its way to becoming a household name.
All images in this article are courtesy of Greenhouse Juice Co..
