Hello,
We are currently looking for new solutions to sell our juices in a sustainable way. An idea could be to use a juice fountain directly in organic shops. Each consumer could use it with his own bottle. Does anyone already use this system or know a brand in this or another field?
Thank you
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Many, many have attempted and it never really works out. (If someone has been successful with this please let us know!)
The only method that has been successful long term is bottled juice or fresh, made to order.
Doesn’t caffè gratitude do it in some way? I mean they do serve from jugs … ? It’s the closest thing I can think of. I was thinking of trying something in my shop but it would have to be only 1 or 2 daily specials … otherwise it become too complicated and of course you can only do it in stores where you also
Produce . Anyway haven’t done it yet but I have definitely been considering find a way to offer refills …
They store juice in containers in a refrigerator but don’t use any type of tap system or fountain.
They also sell bottles grab and go.
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@charlie Thank you for your reply and sorry for the delay.
Do you know exactly why it was not possible for them to use a juice fountain?
In France one Kombucha company is already using a fountain as you can see :
Kombucha doesn’t settle / separate like juice, and it has as longer shelf life. There are hundreds of cafes with kombucha on tap in the US, it is very common.
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Hello, @goyate it depends on what type of “fountain” you are talking about. The one you have pictured above which typically uses kegs is great for Kombucha since its a fermented product, low pH, etc. Not to say you couldn’t use raw cold-pressed juice in a keg system, it just would take extra steps as well as approval from the local health department. The factors you need to consider from the sanitation standpoint, you need to make sure the lines that are connected to the keg are kept free of juice when not being dispensed and or refrigerated, You do not want the juice to be kept in the lines for a prolonged period of time at all. Also, you would need to keep strict cleaning procedures to keep the lines clean consistently.
You would also need to consider what @charlie mentions above, the settling of the juice, most kegs you are unable to see how the juice is actually settling.
The other style of “Fountain” is referred to as juice bubblers (They might have a more technical name) that constantly circulate the juice. These have some sort of agitator that constantly circulates the liquid in the container. These might work with very few juice varieties or blends from a visual standpoint that might not be very susceptible to oxidization, however, they most likely will have an effect on the nutrients of the beverage. These do however work great for lemonades or other flavored water or water-based type drinks.
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Hello,
Thanks @AriS @charlie This is really a technical problem and we see an agitator system as a great solution. If it’s very slow we think that it will not affect the nutrients of the beverage. A keg could be his own agitator with citrus in each recipe with several kegs. We know that we should not have a presence of air inside a keg. It should be an external agitator with a small keg for example. To have clean lines connected to the keg a system with water could be used.
@goyate hello, I’m confused about the keg being its own agitator? Also for the lines with the keg, the issue is not really cleaning the lines daily which they should be, but keeping them empty and chilled while in use.
The agitator in the bubblers are a completely different system than the kegs, I was just referencing both variations of “juice fountains” operations might use.
@AriS We cannot use an agitator directly inside a keg so a solution will be to use the overall keg as an agitator. This is just an idea at the moment. Do you know a company or a system to keep the lines completely empty? We know that we can’t use a bubbler system because of the air inside. Here is a french company for kegs : https://flexikeg.com/
@goyate I am unaware of any type that could do that for kegged juice but that doesn’t mean it does not exist. As for the refrigerated lines, if you reach out to any, even the keg company you have listed I am sure they can set you up. Please keep us updated if you find out anything.
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