Chef mixes organic fruit juices with invigorating herbs


Fresh fruit juice is sold in almost all cafes these days as people place more emphasis on their health, but organic fruit juice is still extremely rare.

Only around 1 percent of Korea’s fruit and vegetable produce is organic, according to the National Agricultural Products Quality Management Service.

Herald Ecofarm, a food business affiliated with Herald Corporation, is getting ready to pioneer the organic juice market with healthy products that taste great at the same time.

Todd Nishimoto, an American chef who helped create Chinese fusion restaurant Xian in Korea based on his culinary experience in the U.S., is a senior member of the research and development team for Just Juice, a brand soon to be launched by Herald Ecofarm.

“We have been going to dozens of farms around the country, meeting with farmers and trying to find fruits that are unique to Korea and have great quality,” Nishimoto said.

“Picking suppliers is tricky in Korea. In California, you can get all kinds of fruits all the time, but here, certain fruits are available only during specific seasons.”

His team has been experimenting with a number of fruits such as tangerines from Jeju, white peaches, blueberries, pears, strawberries and bokbunja (Korean black raspberries) at a workshop in Seoul’s Samcheong-dong.

Aside from having the best organic fruit, Just Juice adds healthy, natural supplements such as rosella, a species of hibiscus that contains lots of vitamin C and antioxidants, and moringa, which has seven times the vitamin C of oranges, more vitamin A than carrots and more calcium than milk. It also uses organic coconut palm nectar and cacao, which will be imported from a company named Big Tree Farm in Bali, Indonesia.

The vision of Just Juice is to produce the best-tasting, healthy products with no additives and to make sure organic farmers get a fair price through direct trade, Nishimoto said.

Organic and pesticide-free fruits are grown with extreme care and sacrifice of the farmers as fruits with the slightest sign of disease or pest damage cannot be sold in the market.

“A gentleman we met went through three years of drought to produce organics. He also lost 30 percent of his yield due to a typhoon,” the chef said.

“He started organic farming after seeing his rabbits die from eating lettuce bought from a discount chain 10 years ago.”

Considering how it was hard to find avocados in Korea when he first came in 1997, Nishimoto said it was encouraging to see how the variety of available fruits and public interest in health and organic foods have grown here.

He is also excited about a Just Juice workshop planned for children.

“I grew up with guava trees, apple and lemon trees in the backyard. Nowadays, kids don’t really know what the fruits look like or smell like,” he said.

“At our workshop, children will try cutting and juicing various fruits and will learn about the fruits. They will be encouraged to drink juice, and not to drink soda for their own health.”

“Our slogan is ‘Take care of your body. It’s the only place you have to live,’” he said.

One percent of Just Juice’s proceeds will go to charitable organizations.

By Kim So-hyun (sophie@heraldcorp.com)