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April 4, 2016
The Root Cause and International Carrot Day
A Behind the Scenes Look at Sweet Roots and Carrot Beet
Today is International Carrot Day. So we’re going to honor the occasion by using it as an excuse to take a behind-the-scenes look at our Sweet Roots and Carrot Beet flavors. We sat down with Product Development manager Simona Vallone to learn more about these two flavors.
In late 2014, Sweet Roots became the third of our five flavors that we finalized for our launch. We chose to focus on beets in part because they have naturally occurring nitrates that may help improve oxygen delivery to the muscles. Research suggests this may enhance endurance in elite cyclists.
Endurance athletes aside, eating more vegetables is clearly a good thing for everyone. So Simona and team set out to formulate a juice that might offer some health benefits. Her challenge: To take a root that tastes really earthy and make a drink that people would want to consume on a regular basis.
The lightning-bolt idea was to add a serving of greens with the carrots and beets to balance out the flavors. Her team experimented with a few green options including cucumber, celery, and spinach. Eventually they landed on spinach and celery for more varied nutrients and color. Those greens along with apple gave the juice a more complete, well-rounded offering of fruits and vegetables and smoothed out some of the earthiness. Ultimately, it’s that carrot-spinach-apple-beet combo that’s responsible for roughly 3 cups of fruits and vegetables alone. The final touch was ginger, which also complements that beet earthiness, and adds a slightly exotic kick. Pro Tip from Simona: add a few dashes of turmeric.
But, back to International Carrot Day…
Carrot Beet was the final Juicero Pack flavor to make the cut for launch. Originally, we named it Beet Carrot, and it was purely 50/50 beets and carrots. After getting some feedback, the recipe started to evolve more and call for some acid. They brought lemon into the mix, and then orange (carrot-orange is a standard pairing in the juicing world) and a smidge of apple. More and more ingredients tipped the scale until carrots outnumbered beets, and the name had to change. Fun fact: Carrot Beet—at nearly three-quarters of a cup of beets—has more than double the amount of beets than Sweet Roots, even though you might not be able to tell in a side-by-side comparison of their equally vivid crimson hue. Pro tip from Simona: a little balsamic vinegar drizzle gives Carrot Beet that extra zing.
A Quick Look Inside the Pack
- There are 2.4 carrots in the Carrot Beet and 2 carrots in each Sweet Root
- The average American consumes only 1.7 cups of fruits and vegetables per day (they should consume up to 5)
- Carrot Beet has 2 cups of fruits and vegetables in each Pack; Sweet Root has almost 3 cups
- We love carrots for their beta-carotene, a type of carotenoid, which helps maintain healthy vision and gives carrots their bright-orange color.