What made juices cool in Chennai?

CHENNAI: Forget the ice. Think Rajinikanth’s catch phrase at the end of each punch line in Sivaji – “Cool”. If you take the time to think about it, fresh juice used to be considered a poor man’s drink. A quick stop at a tea kadai on a sweltering summer afternoon for a refreshing `5 glass of lime juice would make the cut. Of course, the plastic chairs outside the shop usually have cracks in them, the quality of water used often tends to upset a delicate tummy and air conditioning is out of the question. Enter the first Fruit Shop on Greams Road. It was 16 years ago, and two friends who ran a timber business decided to try something a little different. Says Harris Abdullah, one of the MDs of the juice chain, “People told us we were crazy!” And who wouldn’t, when you have a nimboo seller offering you juice for half the price?The idea however was to offer people a space to relax, if only for a few minutes on a hectic day. Abdullah explains, “The bright colours on the walls were something we decided on to keep the space cheerful and happy.” And the guarantee of hygienic refreshments was another must-have on their list. “I remember going to have some juice at a small place with a friend,” the Fruit Shop owner looks back. “And there was a fly that had fallen into the glass. The vendor just flicked it away with his finger and the juice was served.” Not that it was an issue that was blown out of proportion at the time, but the thought that there was simply nowhere in the city to go for quality natural drinks (except for a five star hotel) got them thinking.It is clear with the number of customers that frequent the various Fruit Shop outlets across the city (13 to be exact) that ‘the comfortable juice experience’ has opened a viable market that was previously untapped. Asked whether he ever considered if it would become a trend, and Abdullah nods his head, “No, we never really thought of it that way when we started out.” But he quickly adds, “Honestly, I think we’ve just scratched the surface.”As the demand grew, shopping malls hopped on to the juice bandwagon as well, offering choices that vary from sugarcane juice kiosks to mini juice bars for the shopper on the move. Visweswaran S, operations head of Booster Juice in Chennai, reveals, “On a monthly basis, 30 per cent of our units sold at different malls in the city are fresh fruit juice.” He adds, “We’ve observed a large section of consumers shift to juice for health reasons.” This is apart from their hi-protein shakes for fitness junkies and their very popular wheat grass shot.Despite coming with a higher price tag—`30 to `160, it seems Chennai’s juice drinkers don’t really seem to mind. After all, as the Boss would say, it’s “Cool”.