Start-up of the week: Entrepreneurial mindset at Moju vegetable juice company ‘will exist for many years’

The Gazette hunts high and low each week to bring you news of the most interesting new businesses in Hackney. This week we speak to Rich Goldsmith from Moju about their range of cold-pressed juices.

Moju co-founder Rich Goldsmith hopes the start-up culture at his fruit and vegetable juice company will “exist for many years”.

“An entrepreneurial mindset is how the business works, and I can’t see us letting go of that for some time to come,” said Rich, who started the business two years ago with his best friend and best man, Charlie Leet-Cook.

With a team of seven working at their HQ in Hackney Road, the former corporate execs now churn out as many as 10,000 bottles of cold-pressed juices a week from a factory in Holland.

“We took the decision to outsource production quite early. Getting it manufactured is the key to consistency,” said Richard.

“We still have control over recipes and product quality, and it’s our ambition to build a lifestyle brand within food and beverage, and one that speaks to and will engage with consumers.”

The range now includes 60ml shots of turmeric, cherry and ginger.

Richard said: “They are a lot more functional now, if you aren’t up for a bigger 250ml juice, maybe you want the functionality of those in a smaller package. “It’s a hard hitting vibrant taste. A lot of people are using them instead of coffee. They might have a ginger shot to wake them up in the morning.”

Richard will cease to consider the company as a start-up when the business is at a size that can sustain itself, without seeking external funding.