In Their Words: At Suja Juice, OU Certification is Part of a Multi-Pronged Recipe for Conscious Nutritionv
At Suja Juice, we strive to help people transform their lives through conscious nutrition. We’ve handcrafted three lines of juices and smoothies that are USDA organic, non-GMO, cold-pressured and certified kosher by the Orthodox Union. Suja was founded by four diverse San Diegans from different walks of life who came together to form what is now the fastest growing organic, cold-pressured and non-GMO beverage company in the U.S.
Suja’s story began from a shared dream to get the best quality juice into as many hands as possible. Through the large-scale use of organic, non-GMO, kosher fruits and vegetables, and the implementation of a breakthrough displacement technology called High Pressure Processing (HPP), Suja Juice is fulfilling its mission to get an organic, non-GMO and cold-pressured juice into as many hands as possible.
After launching Suja in the San Diego community, we received many inquiries from customers regarding kosher certification. We were always extremely vocal about our organic and non-GMO verified certifications, but with an increase in consumer demand we began the process of becoming OU certified. One of the challenges that we face with maintaining an OU program is our ability to find and source specific ingredients. With organic, non-GMO and OU kosher certifications we are very limited when it comes to where and whom we can source ingredients from, as it is required for any of our vendors to have all three of these certifications.
This makes it particularly difficult when sourcing extremely unique ingredients that are often times used in our juice recipes. Some of those ingredients include camu camu, baobab, maca and spirulina, which are all exotic superfoods and super fruits that come from the Amazon Rain Forest, Madagascar, Africa and Peru. While it may be challenging to source some ingredients, we find that the advantages and benefits of the OU program far outweigh the difficulties.
Having OU certification enabled us to gain a loyal following we otherwise wouldn’t have had — Jewish Community Centers across the country, events with Jewish Family Services, etc. We’ve used OU certification as a tool to expand our market and reach. Our mission is to get an organic, non-GMO, cold-pressured juice in every hand, and being OU certified means that we’re one step closer to that goal. With a wide range of cold-pressured and organic offerings, Suja has a juice for every lifestyle. We hope you enjoy all that Suja has to offer and live a long, beautiful life.
