New Covent Garden wholesaler Nature’s Choice has launched a selection of additive-free veg juices, including cavolo nero, Jerusalem artichoke and parsnip.
The unorthodox juices, sold to chefs in one-litre bottles, also span sweet potato, red cabbage and butternut squash.
“The difference between these juices and others is that they're raw – the vegetables haven’t been cooked,' said Nature’s Choice commercial director Vernon Mascarenhas.
“Normally, for a chef to get the concentrate, they’d have to cook the vegetable, blitz it, that sort of thing. But with this one you don’t. You just phone us up and buy a litre.”
Mascarenhas said the juices have been well received by chefs, with two London restaurants, Parlour in Kensal Green and The Clifton in St John’s Wood, now using the juices in various drinks and cocktails.
The former has pioneered a ‘parsnip latte’ using coffee and frothed parsnip juice. “It’s a perfect substitute for almond or soya milk, and much more environmentally friendly,” said Mascarenhas.
Almonds, which are mostly grown in drought-hit California, need millions of litres of water to be produced. Meanwhile, the expansion of soy plantations into forests, is contributing to climate change.
Other concoctions using the juices include a Jerusalem artichoke and gin cocktail.
