We spoke to Phillip Maddocks, Managing Director at B.fresh about the benefits of drinking juice and his thoughts in juice cleanses and diets.
Philip Maddocks
Please tell us when your juicing journey began.
I'm the third generation of a long line of family farmers based in Shropshire and have grown salad leaf, whole head lettuce and spinach for the past twenty five years. The leaves I grow may well be in the salad you eat as we supply to most of the supermarkets.
My family have been juicing at home for years. We love experimenting with flavours and mixing vegetables with fruit to make tasty juices that are lower in sugar. I noticed the lack of British grown and produced Cold Pressed juices, so we decided to do it ourselves. B.fresh was born! My wife and I pulled a brilliant team together to help design and develop the brand and juice collection whilst we built a bespoke juicing facility on the farm. It's something we're all very proud of and we are excited about the journey ahead.
Did you feel a difference once you started drinking juice?
Our juices are packed full of vegetables and fruit providing a natural source of a great range of vitamins and minerals, while being naturally lower in sugar than other juices on the market. Also, each juice contains one or two of your five a day and they are really hydrating, so keep you feeling fresh. It's interesting to hear feedback from the team who say they feel brighter and uplifted from drinking our juice. I know as a family we miss the juice when we're away from home!
What is your favourite juice to make at home?
I love green juices and my favourite to make at home is one of our best sellers - #greenwarrior. It's a blend of spinach, apple, cucumber, kale, lime and ginger and is packed with vitamins to give you a boost of green goodness. I enjoy different juices for different occasions so our range offers that choice. I'm always in the NPD kitchen playing with different flavours and combinations with Julian our NPD manager - there are so many options!
When and why did you see an opportunity in the juicing market to introduce your product?
When I researched the market and noticed the lack of British grown Cold Pressed juices on the supermarket shelves and recognised the opportunity to fill this gap. I also noticed that there were few juices that use vegetables and leafy greens in their recipes, which is a great way to lower the natural sugar content in juices. We've invested in various techniques that enable us to create delicious juices that are as close to raw as possible, keeping high levels of nutrients and retaining the fresh flavour whilst having a 35 day shelf life thanks to the High Pressure Process (HPP). We're proud to be the only British grower producer of Cold Pressed juices no other juices you buy in the UK can promise this.
There are many viewpoints on whether juicing is actually good for you given that it still contains fruit sugars- is there a maximum amount of natural sugar we should be consuming in a day?
Clearly there will be much higher levels of natural sugars in fruit juices and smoothies which is why we combine vegetables with fruit to ensure our juices are lower in sugar than most other juices on the market. Drinking juices as part of a healthy balanced diet means that you can introduce more nutrients and vitamins into your diet in a convenient way. Plus you're not then overloading your body with high levels of juice which may then cause a sugar spike.
Can juice be a meal substitute?
Not for us at B.fresh! Our juices are simply a convenient and delicious way to add some extra goodness to your diet whilst offering healthy hydration at the same time.
Is juicing better for you than eating the whole fruit or vegetable?
We are never going to say that drinking juice is better for you than eating the whole fruit or vegetable. However we know that many people simply don't eat enough vegetables and fruit and so having a juice is a tasty, quick and easy way to increase your fruit and vegetable intake.
Is organic really better than non-organic fruits and vegetables?
I have been farming for over 25 years and the organic debate continues, however no long-term studies showing health benefits from a broad organic diet have yet been conducted, so it still remains inconclusive. I think it far more important to focus on encouraging people to eat more vegetables and fruit be it conventional or organic as we know people are still not eating enough.
What are your thoughts on juicing cleanses and diets?
We're not advocates of juicing diets and detoxes at B.fresh. We strongly believe that if we maintain a healthy balanced diet, our bodies will detox naturally anyway and why would you not want to eat food?! As farmers it would be an odd message to send out wouldn't it?! We believe in the balance - which also means you don't have to forego that slice of cake when you fancy it!
Tagged in Organic