The sugarcane juice story at Cane4U

Hindu metro plus , Cane 4 U

A road trip with cousins is always an unforgettable experience. The one we took on the first weekend of April was no different.  All the fun and merriment aside there was little respite from the intense heat of summer. One of the highlights of our weekend holiday ; small white paper cups of cold sweet sugarcane juice ! To say that it was sweeter than nectar ,for our parched throats is no gross exaggeration ! Each of us downed several helpings and we were so thankful to our cousin Mythreyi priya akka for carting along the beverage on this trip ! The ochre coloured drink was just the thing to revive our sun worn spirits ! Now , I must mention here that I’m not very adventurous when it comes to store bought juices. The reason obviously being the standard of hygiene involved in extraction . So, when I was told that this cane juice was made in an extremely clean environment with great attention to detail, I just had to see for myself.

The brand is called Cane4u and has an outlet at Ramanathapuram on Trichy road. The people behind this store are Sujith , Gautham and Chandru. They are passionate about following a healthy lifestyle and that’s what led to opening this natural juice shop ,last year. I ended up visiting this place several times in the past week and it already seems to be quite popular with the locals. The store is a small but comfortable space.The walls are full of writings that mention the various health benefits of sugarcane juice.All aspects of storage and production are easily visible at first glance to anyone who walks in. The long sticks of sugarcane are stripped of their purple coat and kept under refrigeration. The juicer is a high grade stainless steel machine with basic filters along with a few improvisations made by Sujith.He and Gowtham are cousins and together they run a foundry unit. Their employees are required to clean the filters regularly and  handle the sugarcane with gloves while feeding it into the machine. There have been a few lapses in the glove wearing and the partners are committed to ensuring that it doesn’t arise again. The pure sugarcane juice is referred to as the ‘natural cane’ . It forms the basis for all of the mocktails offered at the shop. The customer is spoilt for choice at the variety of summer coolers on offer !  No processed sugar is used  in any of their drinks.

  The staff at the Cane 4 U outlet

All the other juice blends are sweetened only with this natural cane juice. The juice is made only on order. Which means every customer has to wait a minimum of five minutes before her order is processed. Considering that the sugarcane juice has a shelf life of only an hour and a half even under refrigeration,it cannot be made ahead of time and stored. That’s why they are brainstorming to find other ways to make this highly perishable product more easily available to consumers. One of their ideas is to have a mobile juice production and distribution outlet. I like the sound of that!  When I told them that I did drink the cane juice not once but twice after letting it sit for four hours in the refrigerator,they looked at me disbelievingly and told me that I was just plain lucky that I didn’t get sick. Well ! the jury is still out on that one!

Now that the shop is picking up business,Gautham wants to make the transition to start buying organic sugar cane. They do own farms themselves where they are cultivating organic lemons at the moment. Research is underway in tapping the agricultural sector to add benefits to their final product. They firmly believe in using seasonal ingredients. Amla , mango , watermelon are all on their list of juices for summer.Their goal is to see kids sample their juices instead of reaching out for aerated drinks. I was also keen to know about their ideas for the waste sugarcane pulp that they generate on a daily basis. Apparently crushed sugarcane fibre is a major ingredient in the paper cup manufacturing industry. They definitely want to go down that route in the near future. Good to know !At Cane4u ,they are more than happy to fill bottles brought in by customers. This will help reduce the use of their food grade plastic bottles.

After years of watching people down tumblerfulls of sugarcane juice by the roadside , I’ve finally found an outlet that makes it in a clean environment. Now I too can happily chug away at the perfect summer drink…with a spritz of lemon.

The owners themselves are fitness enthusiasts and love their glass of fresh cane juice after a workout. Sujith prefers his infused with fresh strawberries whereas Gautham leans more towards the flavours of the ripe mango. What about the elusive Mr.Chandru ? I will just have to ask him when I meet him next !

Cane4u

Opp Alvernia School

Near Nalan Hotel

Ramanathapuram

Coimbatore.

94894 62599

97871 15155 for door delivery.

250ml of Natural cane juice is Rs.20/

                                                   The cousins…Gautham and Sujith