The Beans and Greens Juice Bar
I Love Kingston —’ 5 in 5' series
Beans & Greens Juice bar has only been open for 3 months but it’s as if owners Fredrik and Glenda have been part of the Castle Street neighbourhood for years. Their deliciously healthy juices, smoothies, coffees, paninis and soups are all fresh and prepared on-site, and service is always friendly. What truly makes Beans & Greens feel special is the obvious enthusiasm and passion behind what Fredrik and Glenda do. Both of them gave up their day jobs to follow their dream of running their own business together in a field that they felt good about and would enjoy. So much careful consideration clearly goes into their juice and smoothie combinations, in fact it’s all detailed on the café’s colourful and informative blackboards. Choose a smoothie and you can see what the health benefits are — whether it’s high fibre, a mood booster, a great source of iron and so on. My personal favourite is the ‘Soprano’ juice combination, and the signature cinnamon buns are definitely next on my hitlist. Thank you Beans and Greens for agreeing to answer my questions, it’s a pleasure to have you as part of our community!
- What’s the idea behind Beans and Greens Juice bar?
Glenda: For years Fredrik was looking for an exit strategy to the daily grind of a corporate job and also to start a business we could work on together. Back in spring last year, he took the leap and decided that it was time to move from banking to setting up his own business and more specifically this Juice bar. We have always prepared healthy meals from scratch at home and have always been into making juices and smoothies. Nowadays people are more conscious of what they eat and drink, so his idea of opening a little place that served healthy and tasty drinks and food resonated well with me — and we both jumped right into it.
2. What do you think has been your greatest achievement so far?
Fredrik: Time-wise it was all pretty quick; from having the dream to actually opening the juice bar it took about four months. Four months of intense work but still a relatively short amount of time if you think about it, and now three months after opening we have so many loyal customers that come in every day and genuinely love what we are doing.
The best thing is going to work in the morning knowing that people appreciate what we do and love our juices and smoothies! We are happy to provide a healthy alternative for those that are looking for something different.
3. What’s been the most challenging moment in your journey so far?
Glenda: I think we would both agree that opening a juice bar without any previous experience in retail has been challenging and a steep learning curve for both of us. My background was managing international digital marketing campaigns, and prior to the juice bar I started my own independent educational/tech apps for kids. Fredrik has over 11 years experience working in finance for well known banks; so what did we know about setting up and running a real juice bar?
Location, equipment, suppliers, shop decor, hiring personnel, coming up with a menu, hygiene ratings, you name it… we tackled all that needed to be done the best way we could and we learned so much in the process.
The most challenging moment for me was definitely when I had to learn to make coffees overnight because Fredrik had to meet with a supplier off-site the following day and we didn’t have any trained barista that could cover for him on that day. I had one full evening to learn how to make delicious flat whites, cappuccinos, lattes and americanos using the grinder and the coffee machine and most importantly steaming the milk to perfection! After going through many litres of milk that night, I was comfortable enough to be in the juice bar on my own the following day and make coffees! By the end of the few hours that Fredrik was away my hands were shaking but I definitely learned a new skill and kept our coffee customers happy!
4.Where do you see yourselves in 5 years’ time?
Fredrik: I started Beans & Greens Juice bar with the aim to spread the accessibility of a healthy way of eating on the go and I would love to see my business idea grow and spread to more locations. So far we are still very much at the start of this journey so it’s hard to make a prediction but I would love for more fresh food places to pop-up everywhere and us contributing to this new direction. I really think it is in the interest of everyone to have a selection of great places to go for a healthy drink, snack or meal so making a small dent in this revolution makes me proud.
We have a small juice bar at the moment, with just a few tables and chairs but would love one day to actually occupy one of the bigger spaces in the area, creating a comfortable lounge with great food and a bigger space for our customers to relax in!
5. What do you enjoy most about living and working in the Kingston area?
Glenda: Kingston is such a great town and offers a lot; it has all the shops you can think of, fantastic eateries and great parks just at its doorstep!
Nowadays, as we are working hard to establish our juice bar we are missing out a little on visiting the market and eating out in town, but we are discovering more and more its fantastic community of people. The people in Kingston have warmly welcomed us and every day they keep encouraging us to continue doing what we are doing. Thank you Kingston, we love you!
And one last note from Beans and Greens:
‘Right now we are reaching out to other like-minded independent local businesses as we are looking for other products to add to a lovely Valentine’s treats box that our customers can buy for their loved ones. The Valentine’s box will be delivered straight to their door on the 14th of February, full of delicious treats and thoughtful products! We’re always trying to come up with interesting and fun things to offer to our customers, so join our journey and check what we are up to via @thebeansandgreens on Instagram we would love to hear from you!’
You can find Beans and Greens at 29 Castle Street, Kingston Upon Thames, KT1 1ST. Follow them on their website, on twitter and on instagram.
