At just 24, Jovan Pejic was in peak physical fitness representing Australia in Judo…

But the discovery of a lump on his skin turned his life upside down, when doctors diagnosed him with stage 3 non-Hodgkin’s follicular Lymphoma.

With their lives quickly spinning out of control, Jovan and his wife Lucianne began their quest for answers.  Little did they know that what they were to learn about nutrition and food would fundamentally change their approach to life – and several years later – lead them to start their own business.

Learning from Jovan’s illness

“We learnt that health is about much more than keeping active,” says Lucianne. “To be healthy one needs to eat well, think well and move well. It is vital that these pillars of health are developed simultaneously and that one is not developed at the expense of the other.”

Even though Jovan was exercising every day for many hours, he was also consuming lots of processed foods and sugars,  alcohol and animal proteins (as many of us do). As icing on the cake, Jovan worked as an accountant in the stressful finance industry and was also competing at a national level in his sport. It was a combination that placed a lot of stress on his body.

Jovan and Lucianne learned that with over 83% of all premature deaths (among people aged less than 75 years) were due to non-communicable diseases caused primarily by stress, poor eating habits, alcohol consumption and inactivity. These diseases are all largely preventable.

“We learned about plant based nutrition and adopted a vegan approach to eating. We bought a juicer and started juicing a litre of green juice in the morning and carrot juice in the evening,” says Lucianne. And what happened next shocked them both.

“Before Jovan even began his radiation therapy, the tumour in his thigh reduced significantly in size (approx. 30%) within six weeks of our newly adopted lifestyle.” He is now in remission.

Doctors were a little baffled by the experiment, and could neither confirm nor deny that the juice helped fight the cancer, but the couple were convinced they’d found a powerful weapon in their juicing regime…and so they started to develop a healthy product that is affordable, accessible and available to the community. And the idea for The Fix Cold Press Juice was born.

Fixed on flavours

Jovan and Lucianne wanted to develop a product to complement any lifestyle: fitness nut, busy mums, stressed professionals, focused students, people with weight issues.

“The juices are made with key ingredients that tackle just about every common ailment affecting modern people,” says Jovan. ”

There are six juices in the opening selection, all with catchy names: A Cabadge of Honor: Red Cabbage, pear, lemon; Turmerific: Turmeric, orange, carrot; All Hale Kale: Kale, cucumber, parsley, apple; Slim Leafy: Cos lettuce, celery, spinach, apple; Beet Boxer: Beetroot apple lemon; and Zingiber Hot Spice: Ginger, carrot, apple.

Seasonal juices, milks and smoothies will all make an appearance in the short term; and while the juices aren’t cheap (the retail value of the bottles will be $10 for 475ml), there are absolutely no ‘fillers’…it’s all just fresh fruit and vegetable juice.

The technical stuff

Having a dream is easy…it’s making it a reality that’s hard. And for Jovan and Lucianne, that meant becoming experts in juicing and storage techologies, business and marketing. Talk to them for even just a few minutes, and it’s obvious they have immersed themselves in all things ‘juice’.

The Fix juices are ‘cold pressed’, which means that juice is extracted using a slow crushing and pressing action. Not only is it considered the most efficient way of extracting juice – meaning less goes to waste – but cold pressing ensures that the vital enzymes, nutrients and minerals stay intact as there is minimal heat involved during the juice extraction process. 

From there, it’s a matter of keeping the freshness in. By using a process called High Pressure Pascalisation,  the shelf life of the juice is extended up to four weeks as long as they are unopened and  kept cool.  Once opened the juice has a shelf life of 48 hours.

Getting your Fix

You’ll be able to get your fix in three ways, once the product launches later this month.

Firstly, Jovan and Lucianne currently developing a small network of ‘Dispensaries’, which align with their philosophy: Think Well, Move Well, Drink/Eat Well. they plan to deliver fresh juice daily to these dispensaries so that their customers can rest assured that they are always drinking the freshest juice.

Next, consumers will be able to order the products online – individual bottles won’t be available for purchase, but there will be juice ‘samplers’; and Juice Cleanses with three difficulty levels (noobie cleanse, 9 to fiver cleanse and zen cleanse); each with a same day delivery policy.

Finally, they will also sell their juices from our warehouse space and ‘cellar door’ in Fyshwick. A well known Canberra designer is working with the couple to  “create a warm space where people can come collect juices, hang out and try some of our experimental stuff or use the free wifi. It will have an industrial feel but hopefully be a trendy spot for people who are looking for a unique spot to hang out.”

Sounds like The Fix is just what the doctor ordered…

the essentials

What: The Fix Cold Press Juice
When: The juice will be launched at Steve “Commando” Willis’ training session, Reconciliation Place, Parkes from 9.30am until 4pm on 22 February. All juices will be available online after this date.
Web: www.thejuicefix.com.au or on Facebook.