Natalie’s Juice – a fresh take on juice

Between shopping with a 5 year old who thinks she needs to have an opinion on everything I buy (or pass by) and navigating nutritional labels, grocery shopping is more and more challenging these days. I am trying to balance making healthy choices with not allowing a fear of additives and GMOs, etc. to overwhelm me, but it is hard to know what are good choices.

Being a Christian parent my faith is part of everything I do, including grocery shop.

I want to be a good steward of the body God has given me and teach my daughter to do the same.

When I saw a sample table in our path, after an hour of negotiating the commissary with a cranky 5 year old, I was hoping for a little pick-me-up.I was willing to let my daughter try a few sips of a juice and move on, but as I listened to the representative, I got excited about Natalie’s Orchid Island Juice.

Ever wonder why most store bought juice is nothing like fresh-squeezed?

Concentrating juice doesn’t just remove water, it also removes the flavour. After it has been reconstituted, manufacturers add ‘flavour packs’ — cocktails of chemicals which restore ‘natural’ oranginess. 

Doesn’t that sound tasty? 😛

In contrast, Natalie’s was started by a mom who wanted to give her child the healthiest juice possible, just like ME. Okay, so now, I’m listening. Then the representative said those magical words, “No ADDITIVES!” Only the lemonade varieties had any added sugar, but 100% pure cane sugar, not GMO sugar beets.

As my daughter diligently tasted each juice, I picked up a brochure. Natalie’s juice is made from handpicked, non-GMO Florida fruit and fresh-squeezed daily to order (not sitting around on a shelf or in a freezer!) It is also pasteurized at the lowest temperature for the shortest amount of time to make sure the juice retains fresh flavor and vitamins. Natalie’s Juice never has any added flavor packets or chemicals!

The company takes the entire process beyond healthy and delicious to environmentally responsible by making sure every part of their packaging is made in America and is 100% recyclable, while maintaining the smallest carbon footprint in the juice industry.

I was sold, but how does Natalie’s Juice taste?

We squeeze our own often, so I know this is the closest, freshest, and sweetest juice I’ve ever tasted from a store.

All the varieties we tried were delicious: Orange, Orange Pineapple, Honey Tangerine, Grapefruit, Orange Mango, Lemonade, and Strawberry Lemonade. Our favorite was probably the Honey Tangerine (which is made from honey tangerines) because we both like our juice a tad tart, but all were refreshing and crisp.

We found Natalie’s juice delightful. The friendly sales representatives chatted with my enthusiastic daughter, who loved playing taste tester. They even gave me a few samples to take home.

Better still, when I mentioned I was a Christian blogger, they pointed out the ichthys fish symbol on their packaging.  I love supporting responsible, female-owned, small businesses, especially faith-based ones. Win-win-win!

Natalie’s Orchid Island Juice Company is a home run. But don’t take my word for it – they’ve received many national awards including ones from Good Housekeeping, Woman’s Day, and Cook’s Country.

And they’ve earned my business. I feel good sharing this juice with my family. I hope you will look for it next time you make the magical journey through the grocery store.