Roots Juicery Seychelles, offering organic cold-pressed juices and smoothies, is the new addition to small businesses on Praslin Island, and steering the ship is Sandrine Adeline. Sandrine is French, and her husband, Danny Adeline, is Seychellois. She calls Seychelles home. They came back to Seychelles from the South of France two years ago with their two daughters aiming for a lifestyle change. Sandrine was a Wedding and interior designer, and her husband, Danny, was a Superyacht captain.
Sandrine and her husband are health-conscious people—doing yoga, eating mainly plant-based food, and very interested in nutrition and well-being. The idea for Roots Juicery Seychelles came during a challenging time of their lives. “The business idea came about during the cancer treatment period of my husband. I read about healing your body with plant-based nutrition and found out that the purest and effective way of nourishing a human body is drinking cold-pressed juice. The pandemic had also paused our tourism ongoing project, so we decided to venture into the juicing business.”
The Pandemic has forced many business owners to think outside the box or develop other sustainable ventures in this unprecedented time. Sandrine and her husband did just that. “ Roots Juicery Seychelles was launched on the 19th of July after a year of research and preparation. We are doing cold-pressed juices using a hydraulic press machine which extracts the juice of fruits and vegetables without creating heat, and therefore keeps all enzymes, vitamins and nutrients intact. We also make smoothies, smoothie bowls, nut mylks, raw food and healthy snacks.
“We aim to provide to the population and tourists an easy and healthy drink and food option. We also specialise in Detox cleanses, a juice diet program of 1 to 5 days. It detoxifies your body, gets rid of cravings, and you gain energy while giving a rest to your digestive system.”
Sandrine researched a lot about the business, and she is aware of the challenges that await her. “Consistency is the key in the juicing business. All our recipes are created with a combination of fruits and vegetables that complement each other and are based on nutritional benefits. Then the process is simple. Once we’ve decided on the recipe and produce, we wash and disinfect the produce, weigh them according to the recipe, shred, press and bottle the juice. Everything is done in our lab.”
Sandrine knows that sourcing the ingredients for the business is not going to be very straightforward.
“We use local produce as much as possible. However, some produce like apples, carrots, kale, chia seeds and cashew nuts, for example, have to be imported as they are not readily available in Seychelles. We know that we will be faced with shortage sometimes, but we will adapt with other local and seasonal produce.”
Sandrine admits that balancing work and life is very hard as the business is new, but she hopes that she and her husband will strike the right balance when the time is right. “For now, it is challenging. We are doing very long hours, and our children are away on holiday with family. My husband and family have been the best supporters along this journey. We hope to find good employees soon who can ease the load of work from us a bit.”
Sandrine’s message to anyone who has a business idea and holding back is, “you have to pursue your dream and live it. If your dream is already so vibrant and alive in your mind, it is only up to you to make it become a physical reality. And once you get started, never give up and take every challenge as an opportunity to grow.”
Sandrine plan for Roots Juicery Seychelles is to supply their juices to hotels and expand on the main island. At the moment, Roots Juicery Seychelles offer a variety of juices, smoothies, nut mylks, coffee latte, matcha latte, chocolate chai, Bliss Balls (protein balls), homemade granola, and they have the plan to add more products to their line.
The lab and store are located on Eve Island, Praslin, Seychelles. Roots Juicery Seychelles ship every working day to the main island, Mahe.
Their products are also available online at www.rootsjuicery.sc
