A Dream For Kids To Drink Healthier  

No sugar, no water, just pure, healthy juice. That is what Marjeli Alvarado, owner of Juiced by Mar told us when we asked about the contents of her cold-pressed juices, which are currently making waves across the country.  Alvarado is hoping that she can get her juices to even more children by making them available in schools.  News Five’s Britney Gordon reports.

 

Britney Gordon, Reporting

Belize City resident Marjeli Alvarado has been making juices for over six years, and in August 2023, she decided to launch Juiced By Mar, her very own company, to provide Belizeans with cleaner, healthier juices. In alignment with that goal, she launched Juiced for Kids.

 

Marjeli Alvarado, Owner, Juiced By Mar

“I have I have a dream, a dream and a vision that I want to see make an impact in Belize.”

 

Britney Gordon

“So what is that dream?”

 

Marjeli Alvarado

“So last year in July, the Ministry of Education started a healthy school. Healthy Belize campaign. And mainly, that is to eliminate sugary drinks from our primary school kids diet. And since I’ve been doing cold fresh juices for the past six years, I was like, wow, this can be the perfect opportunity. How can it be a coincidence? My dream and the vision that I have is to see my juices in all schools in Belize City. Not only in Belize City, but countrywide. It’s not something that I want to keep for myself, but I want everybody to benefit from it, especially our kids. It’s hard for us as adults to get out of our habitual ways that we’re stuck in, but it’s easier to work with our primary school children, right?”

 

Alvarado stated that her products are made from locally sourced produce.

 

Britney Gordon

“So you said that this is cold pressed juices. What is a cold pressed juice exactly and what makes your juice stand out from all the other natural juices that we see for sale in the market?”

 

Marjeli Alvarado

“First of all, we don’t have any heat added to the process. Secondly, cold pressed is a process of blending fruits and veggies. So you’re actually extracting the juices. from a fruit and a vegetable and you have to have a ratio of sixty to forty. It all depends on what you want to select, right? So there’s no water or sugar added to the process and when I say no water, zero percent water, zero percent added sugars and zero percent preservatives. So it’s all just the way as nature intended it to be.”

 

The Juiced for Kids brand offers three flavours, all themed around superheroes. Each bottle includes a fun fact about the ingredient’s benefits. Alvarado says that her goal is to prevent diabetes in children in Belize and hopes that these juices will make it into schools with the help of the government.

 

Marjeli Alvarado

“So for now the brand only has three different flavors. I have a Captain Carrot’s Plant. That is carrots with orange juice. And I also have a Mister Cocopina. On each of my bottles, there’s a superhero in a vegetable form. Like a cartoon character to appeal to the children. And the third brand is actually a Misses Apple. Which is green apples, cucumber, and pineapple which I’m going to make on set today. And I came up with these brands. We were simply in where I was in, in San Pedro, those three juices were our top sellers. And so from ten, why not just narrow it down to three, which is the average juice that, consumers would purchase on a daily basis.”

 

Alvarado offers a variety of flavours, including activated charcoal, which is made from locally sourced coconut husk. She also offers custom juices.