Green juice goes greener

Smoothies are a quick, versatile and fun way to get your nutrients, but their true nutritional benefits depend on their ingredients. Douse your “healthy”, fruit-filled smoothie in store-bought juice and you’ll likely be consuming far more added sugar than recommended. You could also be producing unnecessary waste if you choose to buy packaged smoothie mixes, particularly plastic waste.

While most of us utilize a “use whatever is in your fridge” approach when making smoothies, wouldn’t it be easier if you had organic, healthy ingredients prepped and ready to mix in an eco-conscious way?

Blender Bites offers just that, with 100 percent organic superfood “smoothie pucks” that are vegan, non-GMO, and free of artificial sweeteners, colours and flavours. Not only do they source local ingredients, but they’ve also eliminated any individual or internal plastic packaging.Blender Bites

Currently, Blender Bites has three smoothie puck flavours: Vita Smoothie, Green & Berries, and Greens & Tropicals. No matter your choice, each is packed with fruits, veggies and “superfoods” like spirulina, wheatgrass and chlorella.

The inspiration for the business came when founder Chelsie Hodge was tired of having to throw away raw ingredients that went bad. Looking for a way to make nutritious smoothies without leaving a mess, Hodge tried blending her raw fruits and veggies into a purée, storing them in a muffin tin, and freezing them overnight.

The result was a handy smoothie “puck” she could throw in a blender and mix with her go-to vegan milk and protein powder. Hodge realized other busy professionals could benefit, and Blender Bites was born.

“Earlier on, it was tough to find a manufacturer since we only had a small volume of product,” says Hodge, “So we actually rented a local popsicle shop on the weekends, and my mom and two of my aunts would hand-make all the pucks together!”popsicles

The brand eventually got into a few local shops in Vancouver’s Lower Mainland before expanding to Choices Markets, Whole Foods, IGA and more, across B.C. Recently, they were picked up by a national distributor and are now being sold across North America.

"Blender Bites is a win-win for my customers and the environment. I love being able to save people time in their busy days, all while nourishing them with high-quality organic ingredients,” says Hodge, “As sustainability and the environment is a top priority for us, we are very proud to have created a product that is pre-portioned yet eliminates unnecessary single-use plastics.”