The 26-year-old entrepreneur who founded a juice company in her garage has announced a doubling of sales in the past year.
Alex Auger, managing director of The Juice Executive, says the company turned over £1.01 million in 2017, an increase of £600,000, as her operation continues to expand from humble roots in 2014.
Her success shows the increasing demand for fresh food and drink, and Ms Auger says they plan to grow another 30 per cent in the next 12 months. The Juice Executive have taken on eight more staff helping to turn around 400,000 bottles of juice and cleansing packages.
The Kent-based manufacturer produces more than 40 different organic juices, covering turmeric, beetroot and orange and ginger, sold online as their own brands, Think Press and Radiance, and are stocked in independent UK retailers.
“Like most people who start their own business, you can sometimes get weighed down in all the detail and trying to do everything yourself,” Auger said.
“I originally started off in my garage and was dropping samples off to some of the big financial services companies. It kind of snowballed since then and the time was right to put in some better practices that will allow me to concentrate on growth, whilst having a structured approach to securing and developing the best talent.”
She continued: “We’ve just done the figures and we hit £1.01m in 2017, a £600,000 increase on the previous year. This has come from more retailers looking for us to contract manufacture their juices and a desire from independent coffee houses keen to co-brand their own great tasting range of juices. The plan is to grow by another 30 per cent in the coming year.”
The Juice Executive took on help from the Manufacturing Growth Programme (MGP), which provides grants and expertise to manufacturers.
Darren Booth, growth manager at MGP, said: “Alex is an inspirational young entrepreneur who is passionate about her products, her people, her clients and developing the raw pressed juice sector.
“As part of the work we did, we brought in a specialist that challenged her thinking and provided new ways of managing the business and her own time. We also put her in touch with a manufacturing expert from Locate in Kent, which has resulted in lean manufacturing being introduced and a new layout for the production facility.”
He concluded: “The MGP support has unleashed the company’s full potential and we’re looking forward to helping Alex with future plans to expand and launch new products.”
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