Businesses adapt, but juicing is here to stay

The sentence flowed off Lisa Daisey-DiFebo’s tongue so easily.

The owner of Juicebox in Ocean View and Rehoboth Beach, was describing the recipe for the “bulletproof coffee” available at her two locations.

Quality coffee, coconut oil and grass-fed butter.

She continued on, talking about other products available in her store, but was cut off.

Could she have ever imagined using those words in a sentence to describe one drink when she opened Juicebox in Ocean View, a rock throw from Bethany, on Atlantic Avenue five summers ago?

The answer was no. Of course not.

Food trends come and go at the beach and around the country. But one thing is certain: places like Juicebox and other juice bars and wellness shops popping up aren’t going anywhere. Juicing, disguised as a fad to some, is here to stay, and Daisey-DiFebo and others are simply adapting to consumer trends as needed.

Travel south on Coastal Highway and you’ll see a food truck on the right side. Sandy Pony Donuts became a staple in Chincoteague and Annapolis with creative takes on doughnuts. But in Bethany, Sandy Pony offers acai bowls, thick smoothie-like bases usually topped with things like oatmeal, granola and fruit.

“Doughnuts for the morning, acai bowls for the afternoon,” co-owner Ben Wang said.

Even eateries that may be inherently unhealthy are catching on. Health and wellness is a topic growing in popularity as people learn more about their bodies.

About a mile back north on Coastal Highway, Mind, Body and Sole, a health and wellness spa, recently opened a smoothie bar component to its business.

The Delaware shore, once barren of juice bars when Daisey-DiFebo opened, is now full of options.

Nectar Cafe in Lewes is one of the historic town’s most popular restaurants. Juicebox in Rehoboth has competition with Twist Juice Bar and Dreamer, which specializes in acai bowls, smoothies and matcha.

“I think it’s more mainstream,” Daisey-DiFebo said. “It’s not so much a second thought. It’s more like a first thought of what you want to eat and drink at the beach. It doesn’t have to be all french fries and pizza. That’s all good. But I think a lot of people are paying attention to what goes in their bodies.”

READ MORE: Neiburg: Craft cocktail scene a bit different at the beach

READ MORE: Craft beer festival highlights city of Salisbury, Delmarva breweries

Lourie Cherundolo, clinical dietitian manager at Beebe Healthcare in Lewes, made a distinction between juicing and blending. When you juice, Cherendolo said, you're sometimes missing out on important nutrients. Blending whole fruits and vegetables avoids that.

Which is probably why the inside of most juice bars and healthy eateries have a soundtrack of a loud blender when they're busy.

Juices, though, aren't always blended in front of the consumers.

You don’t have to travel far in the food store to find cold-pressed juices, especially when shopping at Amazon, err Whole Foods.

While Delaware doesn't have a Whole Foods, The Fresh Market in Rehoboth Beach aims to provide many with fresh and local produce and groceries, signaling the healthy ideology is here to stay as Daisey-DiFebo believes. 

And soon juices, smoothies and organic items will become even more mainstream than Daisey-DiFebo thinks they are now.

Wendy’s offering Honest Tea shows that organic drinks can and will be served on a much higher scale than ever before, which could spell trouble in the future for smaller businesses like Juicebox and others.

But it’s more than just drinks people are consuming intelligently.

Daisey-DiFebo’s menu, loaded with fresh fruits, kale (obviously), organic juices, also has a sandwich section. Nothing crazy there, but more interestingly is her selection of grab-and-go items, ranging from healthy popcorns and drinks like kombucha and watermelon juice (soon they’ll start bottling cold brew) to nitrate-free beef jerky.

Daisey-DiFebo said she went to a trade show earlier in the year in Orlando in search of ideas.

She wondered: “What are the trends? What’s happening out there that I’m not aware of? I wasn’t a big jerky person, but look, I have two bags left. You just have to pay attention to what people want.”

Millennials, perhaps better known as “Generation Juice,” are finding more ways to get an edge on what they put in their bodies. Though Juicebox and others at the shore see plenty of action from non-millennials, the trend in health and wellness is geared toward and being driven by younger people.

“They’re just more aware of their bodies and how they treat them,” Daisey-DiFebo said. “They want to do better and they can. There’s more options right now.”

Certainly more than there were five years ago, when the Delaware beaches didn’t have many juice bar options. And there definitely wasn’t coffee beverage to grab on your way to the beach that contained satiating ingredients great for hair and skin with just the right amount of fatty acids.

The ante has been raised.