Written by Jo Power

White bread triangle sandwiches stuffed with single slices of sad deli meats might make sense in the lunchbox of a six-year-old with a picky appetite. But somehow, nutritionally-empty and unimaginative catering continues to be the norm in offices across the world. Today, we’re excited to introduce you to the man that’s behind the shift to a healthier, more thoughtful and decidedly more adult way of catering at Melbourne offices.

Robin Ragadwala launched Home Juice in 2014. It began as a cold-pressed juice shop with the basic aim to introduce cold-press to the Melbourne market. Over the years Home Juice has focused on nutrition and sustainability and now Home Juice serves all things delicious against a backdrop of million-dollar Docklands views.

The cafe recalls, “The first three months were absolutely chaotic. We completely ran out of juices every second day and had to run the juicers overnight to keep up.”

Home Juice responded to the demand by expanding their offering. They added superfood smoothies free from the sweetened products most mainstream smoothie places sneak into their drinks. And they were, of course, a huge hit.

By this point, it was clear that people working or living in the Docklands wanted an alternative to the fried, carb-heavy food they’d been forced to settle for during their workdays. Once again, the Home Juice team his team responded to the feedback they were getting from every side.

It was time to add food to the Home Juice menu. Robin and his head chef worked with a nutritionist to design salads that would not only complement the juices, but also nourish the body with a range of nutrients to suit most dietary requirements and taste amazing.

With a solid understanding of nutrition as a foundation, Robin then sent his head chef out for months of professional development. He studied raw food cooking, working with Australian experts and visitors from abroad to learn how to create delicious and nutritious raw dishes.

“At the end of the day, you have $10-$20 in your pocket and it’s up to you what you spend that on. You can get a burger and you can get an organic, vegan salad. I love giving people the choice,” Robin says.

The Home Juice crew could have slapped a few salads together and named them after “clean eating” buzz words – and they probably would have sold. But the team took the long way around, spending valuable time laying a foundation that Home Juice could build from.

That foundation has proved to be the perfect launching pad for Home Juice’s game-changing corporate catering service. Corporate catering has gone stale – the soggy sandwiches and packet biscuits that come to mind are thoughtless, outdated and desperately in need of reinvention.

Most importantly, catering has to meet practical needs. There’s a staff meeting, client get-together or conference and everyone needs to eat. But beyond that, it’s a way for companies to show their employees or clients that they care about their wellbeing. The Home Juice catering menu is healthy, colourful and thoughtful – and it won’t go unnoticed.

Home Juice is already fuelling offices and conferences across Melbourne. They cater various City of Melbourne events, provide beautiful spreads for PricewaterhouseCoopers, deliver delicious lunch to LinkedIn every Friday, work with all the major banks and heaps more.

The Home Juice catering menu is exciting. It’s broken up into Morning Tea, Afternoon Tea and Lunch, all priced per head; alternatively, the Bulk Pack menu features sets of salads, snacks and juices for a pick-and-choose approach. For Morning Tea, there’s the raw bircher muesli or chia pudding paired with a bliss ball and alkaline water or cold-pressed juice. At lunch, you choose from Home Juice’s famous raw vegan salads, hot soup and to-die-for raw desserts like raw caramel Slice, raw cheese cake and variety of medicinal chocolates which are gluten/dairy and refined sugar free and made with love and gratitude. For a spot of Afternoon Tea, pick from combinations that include bliss balls, raw desserts, banana bread and cold-pressed juices.

Robin is proud of what they’ve achieved but his passion is a powerful driving force. He’s seen the impact of healthy eating first-hand with the hundreds of customers that stream through his Docklands café every day. A Gen-Y entrepreneur, Robin always thrives for challenges and looks for opportunities to grow. He is open for co-branding opportunities or supporting any local community events whether it is funds raising or not for profit and he believes in giving back to community.

Robin says that when Home Juice opened, they found that very few of their customers had ever considered an alternative diet. But three years on, he says, “Every second customer now eats entirely vegan or gluten-free by choice because they’re realising they feel better without that stuff and they can avoid it without sacrificing on taste.” Home Juice even offers online ordering for their Juice Cleanses and catering – or for anyone who just wants to have breakfast delivered to their door. How neat is that?

Home Juice continues to nourish customers that pop into their Docklands café and they’re preparing to open a second location in the CBD. But on top of that, Robin is becoming increasingly passionate about introducing his feel-good food to the board rooms and conference halls of Melbourne.

Home Juice delivers their healthy catering spreads throughout the Melbourne CBD and its surrounding suburbs. Their scrumptious salads, snacks and juices arrive in biodegradable packaging, ready to eat and set to shake-up the way your company caters.