Healthy juice for Trail and area

Penny Kuenle credits fresh juice with improving her health

Got Juiced owners Penny (left) and Howard Kuenle along with their employee, Kalin Milligan. — Colin Payne photo

Got Juiced in Trail is not just a business for owner Penny Kuenle. It is the reward for a lot of hard work as well as a symbol of her good health.

“I got very sick,” said Kuenle. “Nobody could figure out what was wrong with me.”

After leaving her job, Kuenle joined her mother to try to recuperate and was introduced to the world of juicing and smoothies. On her return, Kuenle and her husband began researching the benefits of consuming fresh fruit and vegetable drinks. Meanwhile, Kuenle was getting better and better.

The couple decided that good health was directly related to their food, and over the course of 18 months they developed a number of drinks that they began to sell at markets.

“We bought up all the blenders from all the second hand stores we could find,” said Kuenle. “We burnt one up every weekend.”

Customers kept saying that if they opened a store they would support it, so Kuenle and her husband moved out from under their tent at the markets into their new store in Trail in 2011.

The couple didn't see themselves in Trail initially, but after evaluating their options and gauging the response from locals, it became clear that being in Trail was the right thing to do.

“We have huge amounts of young families coming here,” said Kuenle. “People want to raise their children somewhere less hectic.”

Kuenle said Trail is a great little town. They were warmly welcomed when they opened their store, with gifts and well wishes.

“I believe this little town is going to take off and we will have a lot of businesses come in,” said Kuenle. “We have a relaxed lifestyle, everyone is friendly and we spend a lot of time at the waterfront.”

Kuenle lived in Hawaii for almost 10 years and moved to British Columbia in search of special care for her autistic son.

“We are working on forming a society to try and create a special needs farm for kids like my son to live [at],” said Kuenle. “We want to create a big farm with animals and healthy food grown on the land. Then kids like my son will have a permanent home.”

The couple plan to name their home Akuapuali, meaning god's warriors in the Hawaiian language. Donations can be made in the store, where people are encouraged to fill jars with pennies.

Got Juiced sells smoothies and drinks jam-packed full of fresh fruit, vegetables and optional vegan proteins or supplements. They also sell other healthy, tasty treats.

“We sell whole fruit popsicles and different fruits on sticks such as chocolate-coated bananas,” said Kuenle. “They have no preservatives, colourings or dyes. We buy our food locally, organic if possible, and we try not to buy any processed food.”

Future plans include a possible new store in Rossland.