Squeezing out Billions: How One Man Created the Juice Boom
Over 20 million people worldwide followed him on his juicing journey back in 2011 when his documentary, ‘Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead’ was released.
“In the movie, I took my weight from up in the 320s down to the 220s—230s, so I lost over 100 pounds but more importantly I got off of medication for autoimmune disease that I had for eight long years,” Joe Cross, CEO and Founder of Reboot with Joe tells FOXBusiness.com.
Now Cross has his own media company, Reboot with Joe, a brand new book called ‘Juice It To Lose It,’ and a new documentary called ‘The Kids Menu.’
“I’ve been all over the world. I was in Moldova and Romania giving speeches and talks and everywhere I went, it was the same question, ‘What about the kids, Joe? What can we do to really help and encourage our kids to eat more produce and greens?’”
According to market research from IBISWorld, in 2015, juice and smoothie bars generated $2 billion dollars in revenue, with juice being the largest product segment. Cross may have found a new market with kids as the juice industry continues to rapidly grow.
And, it’s not just any juice either but cold pressed juices, which is made by hydraulically chopping and crushing produce such as spinach, kale and ginger in a juicer without any heat—which is what made Cross famous when he travelled throughout U.S. in 2005 filming his documentary and drinking only juice for 60 days.
“I use a juicer instead of a blender to extract out the water and the micronutrients that’s trapped inside the vegetables and fruits,” he says.
The cold press juice industry has grown steadily over the past five years with analysts expecting it to continue to evolve as consumers lean towards healthier options.
“There is a lot of money in people being sick. There is not a lot of money in people being well. So, I really look at my company not so much at the bottom line—it’s important—but it’s also about the social impact,” Cross says.
His hope he says is that people realize that they have the power to transform their health by eating and drinking more fruits and vegetables.
“There are so many people who are watching that are fat, sick, and are nearly dead and I think my film resonated from a point of view were I wasn’t out there telling people what to do, just sharing my story. And, people picked up on that and thought if Joe can do it then maybe I can do it.”