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WESTFIELD — A new business in downtown Westfield is offering fruit and vegetable juices and ginger shots with the goal of encouraging healthy eating in the local community.
“We live in a world where food is more on the GMO side,” En3rgy Up owner Rebecca Gonzalez said, referring to genetically modified plants. “We have to start thinking about what we’re eating more of. Like cutting out processed foods and going back to fruits and vegetables and healthier foods.”
En3rgy Up Organic Juices & More sells bottles of organic fruit and vegetable juices for $6 for 8-ounce bottles and $9 for 12-ounce bottles. She said the “3” in her store’s name represents her and her two sons. She said the store’s logo is Om, a symbol of many South Asian religions, which Gonzalez said resembles a “3.”
Juice options include “Strawberry Goodness” with strawberry, pineapple, lemon and apple; “Sweet Green” with spinach, apple and lemon. and “Carrot Aid,” made with carrots, pineapple, ginger, apple, and lemon. Juice is in the refrigerator in the back and can be purchased frozen.
The store also sells ginger shots, Gonzalez’s favorite. She said she drinks one every morning on an empty stomach. En3rgy Up sells “Cran Orange” and Pineapple Ginger Shots for $3 for 2 ounces, $10 for 9 ounce bottles, and $16 for 13 ounces.
Local art and photographs are also for sale and displayed on the walls of the store. Small pastries (oatmeal breakfast bars and carrot raisin muffins) he can buy for $1.
Carrot juice is especially important to Gonzalez. In 2021, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Now that she has finished chemotherapy, she is cancer-free, she said. But in the meantime, she started making her own juice. She said the beta-carotene in her carrots reduced cancer cells, and the juice made her healthier overall and boosted her immune system.
“If this helped me, I should share it with others,” she said.
Two years ago, she started selling juice at the Westfield Farmers Market. Last year, she looked for a place to start her store and found one thanks to the help of Park Her Square Realty. The space was previously occupied by Mama Cakes, which closed in November 2022. Hot Oven Cookies also occupied that space, but it closed last December over allegations of racism and “toxicity” to the community.
Gonzalez, a Puerto Rican woman who was born in Westfield, said she’s not worried about that.
“I’ve never had a problem, so I don’t know where that came from or that statement was made,” she said. “We have been well received here and things are going well.”
What makes her nervous is the fact that En3rgy Up is Gonzalez’s first business. But she said she’s confident things will work out if business is slow and steady as it has been in the past.
En3rgy Up opened a few weeks ago, but the ribbon-cutting ceremony was held on March 2nd. Mayor Michael McCabe and State Representative Kelly Pease attended the grand opening, and both presented Mr. Gonzalez with a certificate of recognition. City Council members Bridget Matthews-Cain and Nicholas Morganelli were also in attendance, as were Gonzalez’s friends and family.
McCabe said after the ceremony that the new businesses represent an increase in foot traffic and a return to the city’s vibrancy, a trend he expects to continue. He highlighted businesses opening downtown this year, including a breakfast joint and Turkish kebab shop, as well as current international and American restaurants.
“We have a really great winning combination,” he said. “That’s very exciting for us.”
He also said the city hopes the new Elm Street Square will draw people downtown.
En3rgy Up plans to start offering smoothies and acai bowls. Gonzalez said she isn’t thinking about giving birth, but might donate if needed. As a certified health coach, she also believes in incorporating juicing into your meal plan.
En3rgy Up is open four days a week at 40 Elm St. in Westfield. Business hours are Wednesdays from 10am to 5pm, Thursdays and Fridays from 10am to 6pm, and Saturdays from 10am to 4pm.
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