Here comes the sun: Nelson’s solar powered juicery

New Zealand now has its first solar powered juicery. This month Nelson’s Chia Sisters became the first juice company in New Zealand to manufacture through solar power. 

This production development is also fulfilling a company goal: to become New Zealand’s most environmentally friendly juice through harnessing the energy of the sun.

Earlier this year Chia’s Florence and Chloe Van Dyke faced a difficult situation. The brewery where they bottled their range closed, with little warning. They had only four weeks of stock and faced the prospect of going out of business. 

“We had to decide whether to pack up shop or leap forward,” Florence Van Dyke explains. 

So they turned the situation into an opportunity. 

They purchased the brewery and set about lining the roof with solar panels. This gave them the ability to extend their range to simple fresh pressed New Zealand fruit juices including orange, apple, feijoa, and boysenberry, all Bottled by the Sun. 

This is the latest addition to their growing nutritional range, Chia, made from hydrated chia seeds in natural juices, and Awaka their sparkling coconut water range infused with roots and fruits.

With the sun footing their electricity bill, and some even going back into the grid, they hope to provide competitive prices to the multinational company juices, and believe that New Zealand cafes, especially those in Nelson’s sunshine capital, will get behind them.

Photo: Chia Sisters Florence Van Dyke (left) and Chloe Van Dyke with the new juices.