Fresh start
Young entrepreneur presses her way to success
CAMBRIDGE — A few years ago, Madi Warnock was studying to be a financial accountant at Toronto’s Ryerson University.
To make some money on the side, she took a job as a bartender — and fell in love with it, working alongside talented chefs and helpful mentors.
“I was kind of dreading going to school, and loving going to work,” she says.
When she moved back home to Cambridge, Warnock — an athlete who has long made healthy eating a priority — was dismayed by what she felt was a lack of local options.
The idea for the Galt Juice Company was born. Today, the business boasts retail locations in Galt and Guelph selling cold pressed juices and fresh, healthy foods.
Warnock started out in 2014 with a menu offering almond milk and about eight kinds of juice, renting a small space from E.V.O. Kitchen.
“I started this as a kind of a project to see if I could do it, and things kind of took off,” she says. “I was surprised at how much demand there was for it.”
Then a storefront came available on Queen’s Square, just steps from the Main Street bridge.
It was too good to pass up. The company’s logo already incorporated one of the historic bridge’s graceful bowstring arches. And it was a stone’s throw from one of the former Tiger Brand factories, the company founded and operated by Warnock’s family for generations.
“It’s pretty cool that I got to get a spot in front of my grandfather and my dad’s old factory,” she says.
Within a year, she’d opened a second location on Wyndham Street in Guelph, a city with a like-minded clientele that reminds Warnock a lot of the historic Galt core. The larger Guelph store can seat about 16; there are some bench seats in the Galt location.
The stores are supplied by the company’s kitchen and warehouse in Cambridge. There are 12 employees in total.
As its name implies, the Galt Juice Company is built around a selection of cold-pressed, preservative-free juices, chock-full of fruits and vegetables.
Their bestseller, Green Beast, boasts kale, cucumber, celery, apple, spinach, lemon and parsley. The Mean Green variety starts with 3.5 pounds of greens. The cold-pressing method retains nutrients and active enzymes.
There are about nine varieties of tasty juices and another five types of milk, which can all be consumed on their own or as part of a multi-beverage cleanse. Trial and error, and feedback from customers, have helped in developing the recipes.
The colourful juices feature ingredients that are intended to rid your body of toxins, boost your metabolism and immune system, and relieve stress. A six-juice cleanse is sort of a reset, if you will, a chance to give your hardworking digestive system a break.
“You’re essentially giving your body the nutrients rather than making it work for it,” Warnock says. “It can really help give yourself a fresh start if you want to change your eating habits.”
While an athletic background has fuelled her desire to provide these healthy choices, it has personal roots, too. Warnock’s older sister Taylor was diagnosed with a rare type of tumour when she was a teenager, and under-
went years of surgeries and treatments.
Today, Taylor is a new mother who is very careful about what she eats, and Madi can see the benefits.
“You really start to think about what you put in your body, especially when you start to be proactive, rather than reactive,” she says.
“We try not to get too preachy, but food is fuel.”
The juices aren’t inexpensive — 250 millilitre bottles start at $7.50.
But the ingredients are all sourced locally from organic farms and the juices are bottled by hand in glass bottles.
The 500 mL bottles of juice, starting at $10, are made from about two to three pounds of produce each and have a shelf life of 72 hours.
The company also sells smoothies, salads, wraps, sandwiches, protein and breakfast bars, granola and cookies.
New items like sirloin wraps and sandwiches, coconut yogurt and a vegan cashew-based ‘ice cream’ sandwich are planned for an expanded menu.
“Every time I talk to people about eating healthy, everyone complains about the prep time,” Warnock says. “Our goal is to make healthy food as easy to grab and pick up as a pizza.”
Orders can be placed online and delivery is available.
The Sobeys store in Cambridge has just started selling their quinoa puff cookies; Warnock is hoping to further grow her wholesale business.
While she’d like to have a restaurant location one day, she’s not planning to open a third store right now.
“In this industry, the toughest thing to get a handle on is consistency,” says Warnock, named Young Entrepreneur of the Year in March by the Cambridge Chamber of Commerce.
“I don’t want to grow too fast into too many brick and mortar shops and that gets lost.”