OM Juicery has expanded its range and is now offering organic vegan food dishes from its Elliot Street premises.

It marks another milestone for the business that was a home-based enterprise only three years ago.

Preston James Ephraim, the owner, is seeing customers’ awareness of the benefits of eating nutritious, organic food growing and their quest for organic vegan options is part of the reason why the juicery branched into food dishes.

“More people are switching because their dietary lifestyles have run them amok. They are switching to a plant-based diet because they are seeing results, and feeling better and having more energy and more clarity than if they were on a processed food diet,” Mr Ephraim said.

A personal quest to find ways to eat healthier is what led him to set up OM Juicery. The business is now established at 28 Elliot Street where it prepares a selection of organic juices that have proven popular in the past few years.

The catalyst for the decision to offer food options alongside the juices was partly to meet the requests of customers who were already enjoying the fresh-pressed juices, and partly Mr Ephraim’s desire to make the types of healthy foods that he sought also available to others.

“The biggest catalyst is the way we eat, I eat. I wanted this food to be available to the public. We were getting so many requests from the juicers asking when we would be doing food,” he said.

“We took the plunge; we started with one day, and then added another and then added Saturdays.”

The organic vegan food dishes are available at certain times, Thursdays through Saturdays, and can be ordered and collected from the Elliot Street premises.

The feedback has been positive. Mr Ephraim said: “We are doing options and it is going great. We are getting more traction and looking at expanding it throughout the week.

“Everything we make is based on whole foods — nothing from a soy, protein or dairy. It’s all made from food that you can pick up in the grocery store.”

Many of the ingredients are sourced locally, and the aim is to have as much as possible from organic sources. There can be challenges in getting hold of organic ingredients, but OM Juicery strives for a high target.

“Sometimes the vendors don’t stock organic, or if things don’t make the boat we miss out on ingredients. We are not fully organic; we range between 50 and 100 per cent at all times within the juicery.

“We do our best to maintain a higher standard, right now we are running between 80 and 100 per cent organic.”

The organic vegan food menu features salad bowls, one has organic brown rice, red lentils, butternut squash and micro greens. The other bowl has mixed greens, seeds and organic millet.

There is also a quarter-pound vegan burger, which is made in-house, and a wilted greens side dish with kale and spinach. Among the soups is a bean option with cannellini beans and black beans, and a butternut squash and red lentil bowl.

Homemade honey coconut macaroons provide a sweet treat, while the coffee-free lattes are made from almond milk and hemp milk, which is made at the juicery and sweetened with dates, not sugar.

Another offering is the “superfood smoothie bowl” with hemp or almond milk and a variety of berries.

While the juicery has a delivery service for its juices, the food service is strictly call and collect at the moment.

Mr Ephraim is pleased with customers’ reactions to the juices and the new food offerings. He said: “It’s a great thing to see a person when they eat the food, or drink the juice, and they have a smile on their face.

“Everything we do, we infuse with love. We have a huge loving environment, so when the food comes out and the juice comes out, it’s like ‘Wow, what did you guys use?’ It’s the vibration and the frequency of it.

“People are coming back for seconds and thirds. They are coming back daily to get their vegan bowl.”

As for his own personal journey as an entrepreneur in the food sector, he said: “I knew it was needed, based on what I saw when I went out, and how I [then] ended up cooking things at home. It is things that I would like to offer, it’s from the heart. This is how I live and I want to share that with the public.”

For this month, the juicery is offering a 15 per cent discount on its one-day, three-day and five-day juice cleanses. These juices feature 1½lb to 2lb of produce per 16oz bottle.

The juicery is open Mondays to Fridays from 10am to 5pm, and on Saturdays from 10am to 2pm. Food service is on Thursdays and Fridays between 11am and 4pm, and Saturdays between 11am and 1pm. The juicery will do its best to accommodate after-hours requests if contacted.

• OMJuicery has a website at www.omjuicery.net, and a Facebook page at OmJuiceryBermuda. The telephone number is 703-3663