Cold-pressed juice is no stranger to San Franciscans: the city hosts more than a dozen shops that serve the healthy drink, which has become a $100 million industry over the past few years. Juice stores continue to proliferate here, in Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, and other cities.
But when he opened at 2301 Market St. in 2014, GreenSurge's Sergio Novoa was unafraid of the competition. Even in a sea of healthy drinks, he believes that his stand out.
“We have a unique combination of drinks and use high-quality ingredients,” said Novoa. “Each of our food items was created by a dietitian.”
The market seems to be bearing that out. Novoa, who operates in the same building as Fitness SF Castro, recently opened a second location that's equally workout-friendly: inside fitness center Studiomix, at 1000 Van Ness Ave.
Here's what he had to say about what makes his juices stand out, and why the $10 price tag is worth it.
Why did you open GreenSurge?
It’s my first shop, and I was inspired to go into this business after being a personal trainer. I noticed how so many people struggle with keeping weight off and simply staying healthy. Drinking green smoothies is an easy way to get and stay healthy, and one of the side effects is weight loss.
Were you worried about getting lost amid the other juice shops opening up in the city?
I was not so much concerned about competition, but I wanted to make sure my product was not your 'standard' green smoothie or cold-pressed juice. I knew our unique recipes and high-quality ingredients would separate us from the pack.
Some of your drinks can run as much as $10. Are you concerned about sticker shock for customers?
The cost was a huge shocker to me when I started researching cold-pressed juices. But after gathering all the ingredients, I realized how the cost quickly adds up. The amount of greens you need to make a drink is significant.
Customers are basically paying for the production, including the time it would take them to go to the store, shop, make the juice, and clean up the mess afterward. If you use high-quality products on top of that, the cost goes up.
The profit margins are not significant, especially since we make each individual juice to order. If we mass-produced or pasteurized like some of our competitors, it would bring the cost down.
What else do you serve besides juice?
We have a wide variety of green smoothies, as well as protein smoothies for those seeing a pre- or post-workout snack. We also have six salads to choose from, with our top sellers being an Asian quinoa salad, a massaged kale salad, and a southern toss.
And our parfaits are by far better than any parfait out on the market. We have four options: blueberry, mango, mocha, and “overnight oats.”
Some people tell us they see GreenSurge as part of Fitness SF, and not a separate business. Does this help or hurt you?
A lot of people do think we're just part of Fitness SF, and that hurts us and helps us at the same time. It hurts us, because people think we're just a protein smoothie 'gym' bar. I want people to know that we offer juices, salads and many healthy meal options, in addition to smoothies.
GreenSurge Castro is open from 7am-7pm on weekdays and 8am-6pm on weekends.
