The fruits of his labours are plain to see: these days, Tom and his six staff, including right hand man Seaton Workman,  produce 12 or so different juices – from the traditional orange and grapefruit to tangelo and lemon – and supply “every quality restaurant and café in Wellington” from their central-city HQ.

 

But the company’s point of difference is, as the name suggests, having the juice squeezed daily – by hand.

 

“It means we don’t get any of the skin in the juice, which is what happens with some of those large commercial squeezers that pulp the skin and the fruit,” says Tom.

 

“Citrus skin can be full of oil, so by cutting the fruit in half and squeezing the fruit by hand, we’re avoiding all those nasties.”

 

Not only is it a labour-intensive process, but also one that yields a fair amount of wastage.

 

“Because we don’t use the skin, we end up throwing away about one-third of the weight of the fruit. Which is why our juice tends to be a little bit more expensive.”

 

Tom sources “around 95%” of his fruit from Poverty Bay and likes to use organic whenever he can.    

 

“We can’t always be guaranteed of a constant supply of organic fruit, but we use it when it’s available.”

 

Running alongside is his business, Ice Rescue, which supplies the Capital’s cafes with bags of ice.  

 

It’s certainly a long way from being a professional sportsman, which is what Tom has his sights set on as a teenager.

 

But when, at age 20, he found himself at a loose end, his uncle suggested he

follow his example and set up freshly-squeezed juice company, based on the larger-scale one he was operating in South Africa.

 

Knowing little about the juice business didn’t stop Tom and although he says it’s been “damn hard work”, he wouldn’t have it any other way.