Starbucks’ Evolution Fresh Juice Processing Facility, California

The new Evolution Fresh facility employs about 190 personnel. Image courtesy of Starbucks Corporation.

The Rancho Cucamonga facility can process 140,000 gallons of Evolution Fresh juice weekly. Image courtesy of Starbucks Corporation.

The processing is done with the help of multiple High Pressure Processing (HPP) machines based on advanced technologies. Image courtesy of Starbucks Corporation.

The Evolution Fresh facility in California covers an area of 264,000 square feet. Image courtesy of Starbucks Corporation.

Evolution Fresh, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Starbucks Corporation, opened a new juice processing facility in October 2013.

The facility, located in the city of Rancho Cucamonga in San Bernardino County, California, processes and manages the distribution of Evolution Fresh juice products.

The facility employs about 190 personnel. It is Starbucks’ sixth manufacturing site in the US and the first in California. The company operates five coffee roasting plants in Kent, Washington; New York, Pennsylvania; Calhoun County, South Carolina; Carson Valley, Nevada; and Augusta, Georgia.

Starbucks acquired Evolution Fresh in November 2011 for $30m. With this deal, Starbucks aims to expand its product range and enter into the super-premium juice market.

The first Evolution Fresh juice store was opened in March 2012 at Bellevue, Washington.

Details of the Californian Evolution Fresh juice facility

The plan for the new juice production and distribution facility construction was announced in August 2012. Starbucks invested $70m in the construction of the facility.

The facility covers an area of 264,000ft² and features multiple High Pressure Processing (HPP) machines based on advanced technologies. The HPP machines require high level of isostatic pressure, which is transmitted by water.

The facility can process 140,000 gallons of Evolution Fresh juice weekly. It produces similar juices that were previously produced at Evolution Fresh’s juicery in San Bernardino, California. The production volume is expected to be four times that of the San Bernardino’s juicery.

The Rancho Cucamonga facility is expected to increase the innovation, production and distribution capacity of the Evolution Fresh products on the West Coast and support a continued eastward expansion. It will also enable Starbucks to grow its market share up to $1.6bn in super-premium juice industry.

The new plant has sufficient space for future expansion.

Processing at Starbucks’ Evolution Fresh facility

The raw fruits and vegetables are first collected and then cracked, peeled, cold pressurised and squeezed.

The products are further processed and safely delivered by implementing the advanced HPP technology.

The Evolution Fresh cold-pressed juices are never heated because heat can deprive flavours and nutrients from the juices. Cold pressure technology is implemented to maintain their natural taste for a longer time, without using preservatives.

The facility is designed to meet the US Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards.

Starbucks’ Evolution Fresh product range

The Evolution Fresh juice range includes Orange Carrot Mango, Tangerine, Organic Ginger Limeade, Protein Power, Super Greens, and many more.

Starbucks added Cucumber Pineapple Ginger, Pineapple Coconut Water, Spicy Lemonade and Raspberry Watermelon to its juice product range in 2012.

Marketing commentary for Starbucks

Starbucks, established in 1971, is headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It sells Evolution Fresh juice in about 5,000 of its cafes and plans to increase the outlets number to 11,200 US stores by 2014.

Starbucks’ net revenue in 2012 was $13.3bn. The Evolution Fresh juice product range is expected to generate hundreds-of-millions-of-dollars in revenue in the next five years.

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