Cara Grogan, co-founder of the juice detox company in Sheung Wan, tells us why her programmes fit everyone’s schedule, and shares her top three detox drinks
We seem to have developed a perpetual love-hate relationship with year-end festivities. The wearying process of gift shopping is often offset by the surprises we unwrap on Christmas day, while the high-energy countdown party is followed by the sobering prospect of a long year of work ahead. But more importantly, days of lavish meals and alcoholic consumption is sorely recompensed by an overworked body for the weeks to come. Fortunately, one remedy has stood out in recent years: a detoxifying juice cleanse.
The juice detox market in Hong Kong, in a familiar duopolistic scenario to last year, remains dominated by two brands: Punch Detox and Genie Concepts. While we have given the former a thorough trial (we even did an office cleanse, although only two out of eight people stayed put), the latter deserves a closer look, and not just because one of its co-founders is celebrity model, Cara Grogan.
See our review of Punch Detox here.
Inside Genie Concept’s modest shop in Sheung Wan, we met with Grogan to learn about the benefits of juice detoxes, and why the company goes beyond healthy lifestyle, emphasising corporate social responsibility, even as a small company.
On a busy day, Grogan says they receive more than 30 programme orders, meaning she and her team will have to work overtime churning out hundreds of bottles of fresh fruit and vegetable juices.
Genie Concept currently offers 10 juices and about half a dozen smoothies in the made-to-order menu. Should you decide to sign up for their programme – which is divided into three levels, depending on your experience with juice detox, and ranges from one to six days – Grogan and her team will prepare your freshly pressed juices, ice them and send them your doorstep. These juices will then replace your three meals of the day.
How juices help detoxify your systems lies in its fresh and natural ingredients, and that body organs need not spend energy breaking down food, explains Grogan. That way your body would be simultaneously absorbing energy and resting – a perfect way to offload the excessive intake of meat, cheese, caffeine, oil and alcohol built up in your system over the holiday season.
We’re also happy to find out that a portion of the monthly sales is donated to a designated charity organisation. Beneficiaries in the past eight months include Lifelong Animal Protection Charity, Elephant Asia Rescue and Survival Foundation, and Angels For Orphans. Much of this business model roots from Grogan’s obsession with charity work. Genie Concept even goes as far as to help promote local farmers, from whom Genie Concept gets many of its ingredients.
Watch the video above to see our one-on-one interview with Grogan, who even went behind the counter to show us how their juices are prepared.