How One Juice Startup Is Keeping Up With The Anti-Sugar Trend Through Sustainability

The beverage industry has seen some changes the past few years, one being the shift in focus from sugar-heavy beverages to more health-conscious ones. Startup company Misfit Juicery says it is keeping up with this health trend through brand initiatives involving ingredients and food waste.

"The number one focus right now is sugar content and whether or not the sugar is added or naturally derived," Ann Yang, co-founder of Misfit Juicery, told FoodNavigator-USA. "The fact that people are anti-sugar is definitely something that, on an anecdotal level, we hear all the time from consumers and customers on the retail and individual basis."

According to Yang, the company attempts to be "very transparent" about the ingredients in its products, which include fruit, vegetables, and water. Although there is no added sugar in Misfit products, the juicery says it attempts to differentiate between naturally occurring and added sugars.

"A lot of products will have between 35 to 50 grams of sugar per bottle, which is insane," Yang said. "It is in line with a lot of soft drinks, whereas our line has between 10 to 15 grams, and none of it is added sugar."

Although the drinks are considered healthy with no added sugar, the company says that its true brand mission is to raise awareness and minimize food waste through the sustainable approach of sourcing ingredients that would otherwise become garbage.

"Our mission, operationally, is to purchase fruit and vegetables from farms and producers at a fair price that is giving them additional revenue and then market a brand that talks about food systems and sustainability in an interesting way," Yang said.

Misfit Juicery currently has a partnership with Baldor Specialty Foods distributing company to use 150 of the approximately 7,000 pounds of produce scraps that Baldor disposes of on a weekly basis.

The company says it also hopes to expand beyond juice and into food in the future by using juice pulp to make nutrition bars, soup, and other plant-based proteins.

To read about 10 of the best juices for weight loss, click here.