A mum-of-five from Peterhead has opened a new smoothie and juice bar in the town centre known as Juiced.
Leanne Dalgarno, 35, received the keys to her new Broad Street business premises on Sunday January 1 and welcomed customers this month.
The space was kitted out with an eye-catching graffiti wall as the main feature during the refurbishment, and it offers an enticing range of not only smoothies and juices but also smoothie bowls, milkshakes, health shots, frappes, and more.
Juiced currently boasts a team of two, including Leanne and Kara Dubniak. However, Leanne is in the process of taking on 16-year-old Maddison and her eldest son Thomas, 15, to help during busy periods.
Come full circle
The Peterhead local went on to admit to not having “much background with food and drink”. With that being said, she has already run a smoothie bar in the past.
“I was doing beauty mostly,” Leanne added.
“Then, eight years ago, I opened a milkshake and smoothie shop thinking smoothies would be more popular but everyone just wanted milkshakes mostly.
“I ended up having to close that shop as I already had two kids and then fell pregnant one after the other and it was all too much.
“I did cleaning and worked at the [Peterhead] hospital as a health care support worker for a bit but the hours didn’t really suit my family as I have now got five boys.”
Other than Thomas, Leanne is also mum to Daniel, 13, Lewis, eight, Connor, seven, and three-year-old Emlyn.
“I wanted to start my own business again,” she said. “The juice bar idea was really because I kept craving smoothies and thought there’s nothing like that here in Peterhead.
“The kids and I would make them at home and enjoyed it, so I thought ‘I’ll give it a go’ and open a juice and smoothie bar.”
The menu at Juiced
Leanne had been searching for a space to set up shop for several weeks before deciding on the current Juiced location.
She said: “Every time I saw a shop to let I would see how much the rent was and if the location was good.
“When I saw the sign in the window for this one I just thought it was perfect.”
Watermelon melt, berry blast, passion punch, blueberry muffin, coconut clouds, and bloody Mary are among the smoothie options available at Juiced. However, customers can build their own too.
A medium costs £3.90 while a large costs £4.20.
As for health smoothies, which are targeted at wellbeing concerns, these are priced at £4 for a regular and £4.50 for a large. Their names range from hangover cure and healthy breakfast to energy boost.
Smoothie bowls – priced at £4.95 – yoghurt pots, juices, and shots are also available.
“There’s a variety of smoothies to suit everyone’s taste,” the owner added.
“We’ve got health smoothies that are targeted at certain things like skin or energy, then there are smoothies that are just full of flavour.
“We also do smoothie bowls, frappes, milkshakes, and healthy shots. I would recommend the passion punch smoothie, it’s full of flavour, and an energy shot.”
‘I’m excited for summer’
Juiced is currently open from 8.30am to 5pm Monday to Friday and 9am to 5pm on Saturdays.
However, the summer season may see the smoothie and juice bar open on Sundays as well.
Leanne said: “I’m excited for summer when smoothies are more enjoyable, and to add more things to the menu.
“I’ve got a few ideas already but I need to see how this goes first. It’s good seeing people enjoying healthier food, especially the kids.
“It’s been quite busy. We are still trying to get into the flow of things and I’m learning a lot as I go along.
“I’ve had a lot of people saying they like it and a lot of people have returned so it’s a good start.”
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