Ignite Juice Bar
Dededo
By Morgan Legel
Saavedra
Jeffrey Saavedra, owner of Dededo’s Ignite Juice Bar, began his health journey long before he opened the doors of his shop earlier this year. An idea brought to the island from Los Angeles, Calif. has flourished into a fruit and veggie lovers’ dream. Proving a wide-range of juices and snacks, Ignite Juice Bar has stayed in operation throughout the COVID-19 outbreak, and still plans for another, centrally-located shop in the future.
You got the idea for Ignite Juice Bar while traveling in the mainland U.S. Talk a little about where you got the idea from, and why you saw a need for cold-pressed juice and healthy snacks on the island.
Saavedra: The concept was discovered when I was traveling for work training in the L.A. area. I found a plant-based cafe where they specialized in cold-pressed juices. For the two weeks I was in the area, I pretty much had the same meals from that cafe every day, and fell in love with their menu and the juices. Coming back to the island, I looked for cold-pressed juice, only to find out nobody serves it on island. All I could think of was the benefits of the cold-pressed juices and plant-based smoothies and food to the people on island.
How does the juice you sell differ from those you can get at the grocery store?
Saavedra: With cold-pressed, the process is very different; slow but strong pressure is added onto fruits after gently grinding them to break them down, to extract as much juice as possible. Because there is no heat and minimal friction involved in the process, flavor and nutritional quality are saved. Juices will be raw, very fresh, and actually good for you. We don’t add any preservatives. We use all 100% natural fruits and veggies.
Some of the raw ingredients among those used in Ignite’s menu. |
Some of the many juices Ignite offers to customers. Photos courtesy of Jeffrey Saavedra |
What brought you into the “health” industry? Why are you interested in healthy drinks and snacks?
Saavedra: All through my life, fitness has always been part of me — I played sports, I competed in bodybuilding, I coached friends and family to achieve their fitness goals, I even tried several types of dieting. Being on-island, fitness and wellness is still growing, there’s so much more information that we need to educate our people. The benefits of cold-pressed juice are boundless. Whether you are hardcore fitness junkie, die hard vegan, proud carnivore or chill couch potato, you can use cold-pressed juice to improve your overall health.
How has business been throughout the COVID-19 outbreak? Have you had to change any operations?
Saavedra: Business throughout the COVID-19 (outbreak) has been a lot of changes, we cut some of our made to order menu, cut 70% of our labor and lessened our business hours. We set up our website for our juice cleanse pre-orders and we started doing deliveries
Especially during the current outbreak, why do you think it is important for people to drink cold-pressed juice, compared to less-healthy snack and drink options?
Saavedra: During this time, we’re trying to put out more info about our juices and how it could benefit to your health. I think it is the best time to improve your immunity system. Every day our body is put through the ringer. You subject it to environmental toxins like smog, secondhand smoke, and even welcome toxins like junk food and alcohol inside it regularly. Your body’s organs are exhausted from trying to keep up and stay on top of the detoxification process. The three main organs are responsible for detoxing are the liver, kidneys and skin. vWhen these organs have to work in overdrive, like the morning after a late night throwing back beers with friends, they become stressed and overwhelmed.
Cold-pressed juice can help ease the strain of detoxification on your body. They’re chock full of nutrients that are geared towards fighting toxins and boosting immunity and health. Cold-pressed juice is so potent and instantaneous because it lacks the fibrous pulp of the whole fruits and vegetables. Since the body doesn’t have to break the fiber down in the digestive system before being able to be used, cold-pressed juice is like a lightning bolt to the system. The nutrients immediately enter the body and start getting to work. That’s why when you take a sip of cold pressed juice, you immediately feel a kick of energy.
Talk about your menu. What kind of juices do you make? How many kinds?
Saavedra: We have 10 different juice flavors plus our ginger-based wellness shots. All juices have their own benefits. Benefits like increase energy, support brain health, decrease inflammation, supports weight lost, boosts metabolism, aids digestion, support heart health, high in antioxidants, boosts gut health, supports appetite control, lower blood sugar and fights diabetes.
What do you offer besides juice?
Saavedra: Ignite juice bar doesn’t only serve and specialized in cold-pressed juices, we also serve made to order smoothies that are 100% natural ingredients, acai and smoothie bowls and avocado and peanut butter toast. We also recycle our glass bottle; we give discounts for every bottle returned. Also, please visit our website to pre-order juices. We’re doing different promos every week during this lockdown to support our customers with their needs.
Do you have any future plans to expand business?
Saavedra: Future plans for the business are to improve our efficiency, customer service and later on to open another location in the central area.
Hours: Monday-Saturday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.*
Facebook: Ignite Juice Bar
Instagram: @ignitejuice
Phone: 671-632-8379
*these are adjusted hours for outbreak
