My Journey To Juice

Hi, my name is Ziad Burkett and I am the founder of Midwest Juicery. Here’s my story: 

When I was a kid, I drank a lot of pop. On long nights with friends and family, I would easily drink three to four cans of Pepsi. Afterwards, my stomach would hurt. I felt bloated and lethargic. Yet, those side effects didn’t stop me from opening up another can. As I got older (and a little bit wiser wiser), I realized I would have that same feeling after even one Pepsi and it was because of all of the sugar in that can. That realization is what convinced me to not only stop drinking pop, but to stop drinking all sugary drinks. 

Six years ago, I became more conscious of what I consumed, cutting out all grains and sugar from my diet, and I rarely cheated. I feel so much better. I still love the feeling all these years later. The reason I still love my lifestyle, and don’t ever foresee myself changing, is because I enjoy the heck out of it! I cook multiple meals per day from scratch and am always searching for new delicious recipes.

What I missed the most was juices and smoothies.  Smoothies made outside the house were always too sweet for my liking, so I made them at home. It’s an easy fix.

The bigger problem was juices. Nearly everything on the shelf was terribly unhealthy, pasteurized, and not organic. If I was lucky enough to find something that was unpasteurized and organic, it had way too much sugar. Regardless if they were portraying themselves as fruit juices, or trying to be a green juice, they almost always had too much sugar.

One day, a lightbulb went off. When I was on vacation, I went into an organic, cold-pressed juice bar and had an absolutely delicious juice that was organic, not pasteurized and not sweet. It was at that moment I realized there was a solution to my juice problem: create an organic, cold-pressed juice that is low in sugar, and high in flavor. My plan was to open a cold-pressed juice bar in Toledo, Ohio where I live. But then I realized that only solved the problem for people in my city. I knew the problem with the commercial juicing industry was an issue nationwide. The negative effects of excessive sugar in our diet kept getting louder.

I was hesitant to go the wholesale route because I didn’t want to pasteurize the juices. When you heat up juice, it kills the enzymes and greatly reduces its nutritional value. Simply stated it’s just not a healthy product. After more research, I came across high-pressure processing (HPP). HPP is a relatively new technology that uses pressure, instead of heat, to kill bacteria and extend the shelf life of a juice. You get raw juice full of nutrients that lasts weeks instead of days. 

It took time, but everything I needed to start Midwest Juicery was finally in line. I proceeded to carefully craft our recipes to be lower in sugar and higher in flavor. Our juices have 20%-90% less sugar than most juices on the market. We do that by using 2 pounds of USDA Organic produce, sourcing as much as possible directly from small famers in the Midwest, and go heavy on the vegetables and light on the apples to sweeten. 

We believe that investing in your health pays dividends throughout your life. And if you make better choices, you will live better. And those choices can be ones that you absolutely love.

Juices low in sugar can be delicious. And I aspire to show you exactly that. Because investing in your health pays dividends throughout your life. And if you can cut more sugar out of your diet, you will feel better today and in the long run.

We hope you’ll give us a try and make Midwest Juicery a part of your lifestyle diet.


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