We talk to a lot of café owners who want to add fresh juice but get overwhelmed by the options. They start researching equipment and quickly spiral into analysis paralysis—worried they'll buy the wrong thing, spend too much, or commit to something more complicated than they can handle.
Here's the good news: starting a juice program doesn't have to be complicated. You don't need a full juice bar setup. You don't need to become juice experts overnight. You just need the right basics.
Start With What Your Customers Actually Want
Before we talk equipment, let's talk menu because the menu drives everything else.
Most NYC cafés succeed with a simple juice offering: fresh-squeezed orange juice, maybe a green option, and possibly one seasonal special. That's it. Three drinks max.
Why so simple? Because you're a café, not a juice bar. Your customers are coming for coffee, pastries, sandwiches. Juice is a nice addition, not the main attraction. Keeping the juice menu tight means you can maintain quality without overwhelming your staff or your workflow.
If your café skews health-focused or has strong brunch traffic, you might expand that. But for most operations, starting simple and expanding later based on what actually sells makes a lot more sense than launching with ten juice options nobody orders.
The Core Equipment You Need
Let's break down what you actually need to get started.
1. A Commercial Juicer (Obviously)
For most cafés, this means one of two things:
A commercial citrus juicer if you're starting with fresh-squeezed OJ and lemonade. These range from about $700–2,500 depending on speed and build quality. For a café doing moderate juice volume, a mid-range citrus juicer is usually the sweet spot.
A cold press juicer if you want to offer green juices or vegetable-based drinks in addition to citrus. Expect to invest $1,500–4,000 for a commercial unit that can handle daily café use.
What you don't need: The most expensive, highest-output machine available. Commercial equipment is built in tiers for a reason. A juice bar doing 200+ drinks per day needs different equipment than a café adding juice as a menu enhancement.
2. Refrigerated Produce Storage
Fresh juice requires fresh produce, which means you'll be keeping oranges, lemons, and vegetables on hand. You probably already have walk-in or reach-in refrigeration, but make sure you allocate dedicated space for juice ingredients.
Pro tip: Don't pre-juice more than you'll use in a few hours. Fresh juice oxidizes quickly, and customers can taste the difference. You want to juice to order when possible, or in small batches during prep.
3. Serving Containers
You'll need glassware or to-go cups for serving. Nothing fancy required—just make sure your cup sizes make sense for pricing. Most cafés offer 12 oz and 16 oz options.
If you're doing to-go juice (and you should be), invest in quality clear cups with good lids. Customers want to see the juice, and a leak during their commute will guarantee they never come back.
4. Small Wares and Cleaning Supplies
This is the boring stuff nobody thinks about until day one:
- Cutting boards and knives (dedicated to juice prep to avoid cross-contamination)
- Brushes for cleaning juicer parts
- Sanitizer solution
- Bus tubs or containers for pulp disposal
- Towels (you'll go through more than you expect)
Budget a few hundred dollars for small wares. It's not glamorous, but having the right tools makes everything smoother.
What You Can Skip (For Now)
Here's what you don't need when you're starting out:
Bottling equipment. Unless you're planning to sell packaged juice for retail, don't worry about this yet. Focus on fresh juice by the glass first. You can always add bottling later if demand justifies it.
Expensive POS integrations. Your existing POS can handle juice as a menu item. You don't need specialized juice bar software.
A juice-specific prep station. Most cafés make juice work within their existing kitchen flow. A dedicated juice station is nice to have but not essential starting out.
Multiple juicers. Start with one machine that fits your primary need. You can add equipment as your program grows.
Setting Up Your Workflow
Equipment is only half the equation. You also need a workflow that doesn't slow down your existing operation.
Prep in batches. Cut your lemons and limes during morning prep. Pre-portion vegetables if you're making green juice. This saves time during service.
Train everyone. Every staff member should know how to make your juice drinks. It can't be "the juice person's job" because when they call out sick, your program falls apart.
Clean as you go. Juicers get sticky fast. Build cleaning into the workflow—rinse between drinks, deep clean during slower periods, full breakdown at closing.
Test your pricing. Start with prices that cover your costs plus a healthy margin (juice should be 70–80% gross margin). You can always adjust based on what the market will bear, but don't leave money on the table.
The Real Cost to Launch
Let's talk numbers. For a typical NYC café adding a basic juice program:
- Commercial juicer: $1,500–2,500
- Small wares and supplies: $300–500
- Initial produce inventory: $200–300
- Signage/menu updates: $100–200
You're looking at roughly $2,500–3,500 to get started with quality equipment. That might sound like a lot, but juice margins are so strong that most cafés recoup that investment in 2–4 months.
Start Simple, Grow Smart
The cafés that succeed with juice are the ones that don't overthink it. They start with a tight menu, buy appropriate equipment, train their staff, and adjust based on what customers actually order.
You don't need to be a juice expert. You just need to serve fresh, quality drinks consistently. The equipment does most of the work—you just need to choose the right setup for your space and your volume.
If you're a NYC or Long Island café owner thinking about adding juice, we can help you figure out exactly what you need—without trying to sell you equipment you don't. We've helped dozens of cafés launch juice programs, and we're happy to share what we've learned.
Let's talk through your specific situation—no obligation, just honest advice.
Juicer Joe has been helping NYC and Long Island cafés and restaurants build successful juice programs for over 25 years. We're authorized Ceado and Zumex dealers.
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