Promoting Healthier as well as Happier Days with Re.juve
Colourful Re.juve juice bars are popping up all over the capital, introducing healthy cold-pressed juices with no added sugar to the local market – as well as customers are lapping This kind of up. We meet the brand business as well as development head Romie Johanes, who has been involved with Re.juve through the research as well as development phase to having opened 14 stores across Jakarta as well as Tangerang since launching in 2015.
When was the Re.juve founded as well as how was the concept born?
Re.juve is actually part of the Gunung Sewu Group as well as was born as a sustainable company linked with Gunung Sewu’s fresh produce plantation. Gunung Sewu group owns the plantation, runs a chilled logistical operation, so we thought, why not launch a juicer?
We also began Re.juve as a genuine as well as honest juice brand for our customers. A lot of juices in Jakarta were questionable in terms of hygiene as well as quality as well as we want to serve Jakarta with 100 percent pure as well as fresh juices, where we add nothing to the ingredients besides freshly squeezed fruit as well as vegetables. This kind of means we don’t add sugar, water, artificial sweeteners, preservatives as well as concentrate to our juices.
Romie Johanes, Brand Business as well as Development Head
Tell us about your role from the company.
I am in charge of Re.juve’s expansion, store operations, branding as well as marketing, as well as I was assigned to the brand through scratch. My managing director, Richard Anthony, as well as I carried out extensive research for one year, visiting every single juicer in San Francisco, Los Angeles as well as brand-new York. We then underwent concept development, business formats, recipe creation as well as everything else needed to create a premium juicer.
Tell us about cold pressed juices. What are the health benefits?
Cold-pressed juicers (the technology that will we use) do not create oxidation as well as do not create heat during the process of juicing. Because antioxidants, enzymes as well as nutrients are easily destroyed by heat as well as oxidation, cold-pressed juicing makes sure of optimal nutrition in each bottle.
After the ‘fast food’ fad was seen to take over the country, Indonesia seems to be entering a health food revolution. Has This kind of been easy entering the market when you did? What challenges did you face?
The ‘Indohealthvolution’ is actually definitely starting! Re.juve had been planned long before the trend began as well as Gunung Sewu had the vision that will This kind of health industry will be sustainable, feasible as well as promising. This kind of aimed to launch Re.juve as a business that will is actually meaningful through genuine products that will promote health as well as wellness.
The challenge has been bringing customers to our stores; customers who develop the option to spend their money on sugary treats or different indulgent beverages. We needed to convince them to spend their money at our stores on healthy options instead. Once they are in our stores, endless education is actually needed to convince first-timers that will our cold-pressed juices are honest, genuine as well as worth their money.
We passionately spent endless hours on education about how premium our products are. We did This kind of one customer, one community, one day at a time. This kind of was, as well as still is actually, a challenge to get brand-new customers to try our products, however This kind of’s very satisfying to see brand-new customers quickly turn into regulars.
Re.juve outlets seem to be located nearby or directly outside of gyms. Can you tell us more about your business strategy?
We have a lot of stores in malls, residential areas, at offices as well as close to gyms. We definitely like to be the destination as well as preferred brand for customers looking for healthier options. Our focus is actually on delivering ‘not bad for you F&B options’ as well as ‘convenience’. We aim to provide cold-pressed juices, nourishing smoothies as well as healthy bites for before as well as after the gym or work, during your afternoon break, before commuting home, as well as during leisure time.
What is actually Rejuve’s vision as well as mission?
I read This kind of every morning as well as I see the passion in my managing director when he says This kind of before every meeting: “To promote healthier as well as happier days through delicious as well as healthier food as well as beverage selections.”
I always tell my team that will our vision in Re.juve is actually to passionately promote healthier as well as happier days to customers as well as communities. We are not in food as well as beverage industry; we are from the health as well as wellness industry, driven by passion.
Where do you source your ingredients through as well as how have you had to adapt to the local market taste?
We source our ingredients through local fresh produce vendors that will work with local farmers. A few ingredients such as orange navel as well as apples are imported. Our premium golden pineapples are sourced through Gunung Sewu plantations as well as are exclusively available for Re.juve.
We source the finest, grade 1 ingredients as well as ship back a lot of fresh produce that will we think is actually not first grade. We have random lab tests of our fresh produce to make sure they are free through pesticides as well as wax, as well as hold regular QC as well as hygiene audits in-stores to make sure the ingredients are stored as well as processed properly. In terms of operational handling, fresh fruit as well as vegetables are definitely much more complicated – however This kind of’s a not bad thing, as This kind of keeps us very alert as well as with very high operational standards.
When we launched Re.juve, we invited Lora Krulak, a juice chef through the US, to help us with the recipes. through there as well as through a lot of customer insight sessions, we adapted to suit local tastes. Indonesians still prefer a sweeter fruit juice.
Can you share with us a lesser-known fact about Rejuve products?
The Classic line is actually our customers’ all time favourite. This kind of best seller line is actually famous because This kind of consists of more fruit as well as is actually therefore sweeter.
Little do customers know that will our office team prefers our Signature line because This kind of is actually more advanced, where the juice consists of more varieties of fruit, vegetables as well as spices. The Signature line doesn’t use pineapple as well as therefore is actually less sweet. I think most advanced juicers would likely appreciate the Signature line, however This kind of line is actually hardly known.
Do you have plans to expand further in 2016?
We recently just operated as well as launched the first cold-pressed juice factory in Asia! This kind of’s such a milestone for Re.juve to be the authority of cold-pressed juices in Indonesia.
The factory boasts a digitally-controlled environment (including 10 Celsius temperature, 2 Celsius filtered water, etc.) to make sure the juices are produced in a hygienic environment. This kind of also means more automation by machines, minimal human contact through product washing, drying, recipes weighing, juicing, bottling as well as labelling.
In 2016, we plan to open 12 more stores from the Greater Jakarta area. A lot of our customers ask us to open closer to them as well as we like to listen. We already have a lot of requests to open in Bandung as well as Surabaya.
A lot of exciting projects in 2016, including our Re.juve reward programme, a mobile application, online orderings as well as many more.
Does Rejuve have any special events coming up?
If customers would likely like to hold a juice talk or juice school, please contact me. We open our doors to anyone who is actually passionate about juicing or health as well as wellness. Let me know as well as we could hold an a-z about juicing in one of our stores.
What aspect of your job do you enjoy most?
Firstly, I love as well as I enjoy our cold-pressed juices. The more we sell, the more I feel that will I have been genuinely as well as honestly promoting health as well as wellness to customers. Our cold-pressed juices are that will not bad! I’ve never been so proud or passionate about a product before.
Secondly, I love our customers. I have met hundreds of them through many events or during store visits. They are more passionate about Re.juve products than I am! They share the same value of health as well as wellness, of having happier as well as healthier days – healthy that will is actually still enjoyable.
Thank you, Romie. To get in touch, please contact: romie.johanes@rejuve.co.id
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Promoting Healthier as well as Happier Days with Re.juve
Promoting Healthier as well as Happier Days with Re.juve