Less than five years after launching his business on a kitchen counter, OM Juicery owner Preston J Ephraim II is ready to take the next step in the evolution of the enterprise.

Mr Ephraim, who graduated in 2018 from a home-based business to a retail location at the corner of Court Street and Elliott Street in Hamilton, said the outlet’s cold-pressed juices and immunity-boosting fire tonic elixirs are now available in five MarketPlace stores and at the Supermart in Hamilton.

He added: “We will continue to make more partnerships moving into 2022.”

Mr Ephraim, 40, said he had a “full-on” practice here in 2017 as a US board-certified nutritional counsellor when a client who worked a busy job in international business fell ill.

Mr Ephraim counselled him to eat more living foods, juices and smoothies, but the client replied: “You know I am not going to do that.”

He said: “So I thought ‘how can I make him juices and smoothies? How can I find the time to do that? I just thought that if he’s asking, I can do it’.”

Mr Ephraim soon took on a second juicing client – and a business was born.

He said: “Between those two clients, they referred me out. I had no idea we were going to start a cold-pressed juicery.”

Today, Mr Ephraim, wife Megan and two staff work in the business.

OM Juicery offers a range of raw, organic and locally-made cold-pressed juices, juice cleanses, juice subscriptions, super food smoothies, smoothie bowls, kombucha teas, vegan lattes – nut milks are made in-house from scratch and the drinks are sweetened with dates – as well as wellness shots.

Of the latter, Mr Ephraim said: “They are flying off the shelf – we can’t keep them in stock.”

The business, which won a Best of Bermuda award this year “for veggie lovers”, is to revamp its food service menu, and relaunch it in the New Year.

Mr Ephraim, who grew up in Washington DC but has lived on the island for 20 years, said cold-pressed juices are “completely living juices – they have no additives, no water, no sugar.

“You drink between two and three pounds of food per bottle. You get all the nutrients and vitamins – all the elements you miss out on in a normal diet.

“You receive more nutrition in one day than a person would in two or three days eating regular food because of how nutritionally dense the juices are.

“The nutritional level is enhanced within each person every time they drink a juice.”

He said the juices, which have a five to seven-day shelf life, boost the immune system, help cognitive function, and improve motivation.

They come in more than 30 blends developed by Mr Ephraim, who says they are suitable for people of all ages.

OM Juicery also offers “juice cleanses”, which can last for three or five days.

Fasters drink six, 16-ounce juices per day.

Mr Ephraim said: “You get the nutrients and vitamins of 12 to 15 pounds of plant-based, living foods per day.

“They go into your bloodstream and revitalise you and push toxicity out.”

He said the New Year is the ideal time for a juice fast after the food and drink consumed over the festive season, adding that some customers choose to begin a fast before Christmas, foregoing holiday consumption.

During a fast, Mr Ephraim said, “you will feel full, have more energy”.

But he added: “You can incorporate juices into your daily life – you don’t just have to have a juice fast.”

Mr Ephraim has noticed a shift in the last 18 months from people juicing for aesthetic reasons to doing so because of a desire “to live well, not only for ourselves, but for families and life”.

He said: “Business is definitely coming up.”

OM Juicery products are available at the store, and can also be ordered on the business’ website for pick-up, or on the Sargasso Sea platform for pick-up, or delivery island-wide.

The store, open Monday to Saturday from 10am until 4pm, is located at 28 Elliott Street in Hamilton.

For more information, call232-3663 or e-mail to info@omjuicery.net