The Story of Juicing Systems Founder Remo Trovato | Fresh Pressed Podcast

Fresh Pressed

“There are no shortcuts,” says Remo, the fearless leader of Juicing.Systems, when asked about what he’s learned throughout his years as a business owner. “You have to offer honest and good quality service and product because, at the end of the day, your relationships with your clients are what carry you through. We’ve always tried to be as authentic and honest as we can. As people, but also as a company. Honesty and integrity last the longest.” Originally from Switzerland, Remo came to Canada in his late twenties. He had traveled the world extensively in his younger years, and—being struck by the love of Kristen and the beauty of the Okanagan Valley—decided he’d become a permanent fixture. Before his juicy journey with Juicing.Systems and Mobile Juicing, Remo worked in the technical field as an automotive electrician. His business savviness started to shine long before Juicing.Systems came to be and allowed him to build and sell another successful business. Since then, Remo’s juicing repertoire has been over 10 years in the making. It began when he and Kristen fell into processing apples and cherries and jumped on an opportunity to reduce food waste. Enter the couple’s mobile juicing business (MobileJuicing.com). Using a rack and cloth press, and struggling through problems with their machines, the first few years were filled with back-breaking work that required hoards of painkillers and rubbing oils. Regardless, Remo remembers their adventures as being quite romantic. “It was just me and my wife. We travelled from orchard to orchard, very happy-go-lucky, juiced, then spent the nights in a tent on the farmer’s fields, sleeping under the stars. It was great.” Romantic sentiments aside, it became apparent to Remo during these humble beginnings that pressing methods in North America far lagged behind the technology developed in Europe. Using his nifty connections, Mobile Juicing had an ‘in’ to the technology that has made Juicing.Systems what it is today. The couple landed on purchasing a Kreuzmayr belt press and de-stoner and integrated it into their trailer. “It changed our operation,” Remo reflects. “Our production went from two to three bins an hour up to eight bins an hour.” They didn’t take long to upgrade to the next size press… and then they upgraded again. Remo made juicing look so good that farmers quickly approached him and enquired about his and Kristen’s new squeeze. Appreciating the magnitude of what they were accomplishing and wanting to share this success with others, they promoted Kreuzmayr to the point of Juicing.Systems representing Kreuzmayr for all of North America. The in-depth knowledge that Remo has of his equipment allows Juicing.Systems to install, service, rebuild and maintain everything that we sell. “In the farming landscape, harvest times are very intense, so using these machines during harvest times is also intense. They run daily, and they run hard, so we have a very good understanding of what they can and can’t do and what’s necessary to run and maintain them efficiently and effectively.” With the cider industry growing and consumers gaining an appreciation for craft cider, there will always be work to be done in reducing waste and increasing revenue. “Where smaller orchards have been taken over by younger generations, there’s a greater tendency to diversify and add value-added products to their inventory. You see a lot of apple chips, juices, and other products that have come out of farms to add on to their offerings.” Remo loves being connected to the seasons and to the earth. He spends his downtime shredding the mountains on his snowboard. Both his parents came from farming backgrounds, and memories of stomping grapes with his family in southern Italy is a precious part of his childhood that reflects in the work Juicing.Systems does today. “It’s very rewarding to help the farmers with their needs and hopefully make a better living.”