After 3 years and 400,000 pounds of fruit, SLO juice maker is opening a local kiosk
Former filmmaker Jason Plough traveled all over the world for eight years.
All that jet-setting caused him to neglect his health, and when working on his final project about a popular energy drink that was “basically cancer in a can,” he felt a responsibility to create something that “cures cancer in a bottle.”
“I started to draft up what owning my own juice company would look like, and it just checked a bunch of boxes that I was looking to fulfill,” Plough told The Tribune. “I ended up taking a leap of faith and just knocked out what it would look like to open up a juice company.”
Originally from Northern California, Plough has lived in SLO since 2009, falling into the filmmaking business through a local job and “running into the right person at the right time.”
He chose to open up his juice company in SLO “because it’s the best place in the world.”
Plough’s vision turned out to be RAD Juice — cold-pressed organic juices, with the “RAD” standing for “raw and delicious.” From the many, various juice companies all over the world, Plough saw RAD Juice standing out among the crowd.
“I realized that there really wasn’t a brand in the space. It’s your typical Suja, or Evolution Fresh, or Pressed or whatnot,” he said. “Nothing like that is exciting, like the juice is fine and all, but it’s just not rad, no pun intended.”
400,000 pounds of fruits and veggies juiced in three years
Plough started RAD Juice on Jan. 1, 2023, and with bright colors inside its glass bottles, the juice company packs two pounds of fresh vegetables and fruits in every beverage.
It makes the juice out of a production kitchen on Sueldo Lane in San Luis Obispo.
Ingredients include carrots, celery, beet, ginger, turmeric, garlic, cucumber, green apples, lemons and kale to build a rotating menu with flavors called Greenest Green, Mornin’ Sunshine, the Blue One and Drop the Beet.
“I’ve spent a lot of time crafting our recipes and making sure that they’re all well-balanced and delicious, and we have something for everyone,” Plough said. “Ultimately, we have the veggie juices for the veggie crowd. We have the fruitier, sweeter juices for people who maybe haven’t had cold-pressed juice, and the goal is for them to open up a RAD bottle and not be disappointed.”
How much RAD Juice costs and where to get it
RAD Juice bottles are priced at $12 for ordering online and in fridges, and $11 each at farmers markets.
After hitting its three-year anniversary, the company has juiced 400,000 pounds of fruits and vegetables for its beverages. It cold presses every ingredient, using 2,000 pounds of pressure for a five-minute press cycle, Plough said.
“The whole process is really gentle on all the nutrients and enzymes in the juice, and there’s a pretty significant quality difference as far as taste goes,” he said. “We’ve made a lot of juice in such a short amount of time.”
RAD Juice delivers all over SLO County every Tuesday and sells its cold-pressed juices in local fridge locations across the county. In SLO, it can be found at the SLO Food Co-op, Seeds, Bread Bike, the SLO Ranch Market and Lincoln Deli. RAD Juice is also available at Harmony House in Pismo Beach, Avocado Shack in Morro Bay, Cayucos Coffee in Cayucos, True Earth Market in Cambria and Black Street Bakery in Paso Robles, along with five area farmers markets.
As for what’s next for the ever-growing and ever-juicing business, Plough said RAD Juice is opening up its own kiosk at SLO Ranch Farms & Marketplace starting March 1, and will come out with a new product: RAD Fuel that has 25 grams of protein using coconut.
“There’s nowhere to get really fresh, clean, grab-and-go protein shakes that aren’t filled with a paragraph of chemicals,” Plough said. “I think that’s something that we can bring to life.”
For more information
For more information about RAD Juice, visit its website at radjuices.com, email hello@radjuices.com call 805-707-2022.