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5B Fruit Smoothies-Juices-Bowls
When Wood River Valley natives Parker Morris and Katja Peller struggled to find enough fresh greens for their Ketchum cold-pressed juice and smoothie shop, 5B Fruit, they took matters into their own hands—literally. The couple, who live on a 5-acre farm in Bellevue, built a greenhouse to grow their own. The young couple represent the new generation of environmentally conscious food business owners: In addition to sourcing organic and local whenever possible, they compost their juicing scraps, encourage customers to bring their own mason jars, provide biodegradable spoons, and offer glass, dishwasher-safe Simply Straws.
We caught up with Parker and Katja to learn more about their mission and philosophy:
How did you get to where you are today? What’s your background, education, work experience in relation to food?
Katja and I are both Wood River Valley locals, born and raised! We both spent years working in restaurants growing up. I got involved in alternative wellness and holistic healing through my business 5B Flotation; meanwhile, Katja pursued her passion in the culinary arts working at various local businesses throughout the valley. We have both spent periods of our lives living in tropical San Diego, which provided some influence on 5BFruit’s character development. We started 5BFruit in September 2017 with our combined savings, no employees, and while both working second jobs. It has been a thrill and a blessing to watch this dream grow into what it is today.
What inspired you to start a juice and smoothie bar?
When brainstorming business ideas, we decided to combine our passions for holistic wellness and the culinary arts, which led us to the idea of 5B Fruit. We wanted to target customers who craved a healthy super-food that still tastes and looks amazing! We provide organic dairy options, as well as vegan preferences in order to best cater to everyone. We envisioned a lively, tropical, kick-back environment where locals can experience a quick escape to the beach with reggae music, delicious super-foods and unconventional healthy menu items!
You grow your own organic spinach and kale in a greenhouse. Why?
Since we live on a farm in Bellevue, we do our best to utilize our space and land to keep 5B Fruit as sustainable as possible! We have a flock of organic free-range chickens that feed mainly on our compost from the juice bar. Occasionally, we sell excess eggs at the counter as well! Our greenhouse has been utilized to grow mainly kale and spinach for juicing. We selected these two ingredients to grow ourselves because they grow very well in our garden and we require LOTS of it to juice! We have found that we get impressively greater yields of juice from our greens that are freshly harvested the same day. We advertise on our social media on days we are harvesting so that customers know when they can get the FRESHEST juice around!
What are your favorite ingredients to source locally?
We love to use local ingredients whenever possible! Our avocado toast features bread and honey from Bigwood Bread and microgreens from Itty Bitty Farms. A few menu items contain locally made Black to Life activated Bamboo Charcoal for detox purposes. Our whole milk is usually organic Idaho-sourced when available. We also occasionally order produce from Kraay’s Market & Garden when quantity is available. And, of course, our own ingredients grown in our greenhouse: kale, spinach, mint, cucumber, and celery.
What ingredients (fresh or frozen) would you be interested in purchasing locally if you could?
We would love to source ALL of our products locally if it were possible! Unfortunately the quantity of most of our produce needed is unrealistic for small farms to keep up with. I think the most realistic ingredients we could add to our local purchases would be beets and carrots!
What’s your favorite locally inspired meal to cook at home?
A household favorite of ours is a New York or ribeye from Silver Spring Ranch with some Hangar Bread and Sherry Kraay’s local vegetables.
What local fruit or veggie do you most look forward to each season?
After a long debate, we decided that we could agree on local cherries!
What’s your most memorable food story from your childhood?
Katja: My mom used to bake us cobblers with local berries from the farmers market!
Parker: Drinking fresh juice and eating local honey from a farmers market in Hawaii on a vacation!
Who are your food heroes?
Chef Tracy Bailet of Globus and The Covey, Al McCord of Al's Sustainable Mercantile (formerly Wood River Sustainability Center), and Liza and Ashley of Café Della.
What change(s) would you like to see in the Wood River Valley in terms of food?
I would like to see more local ingredients available at grocery stores. I would also REALLY like to see the Ketchum farmers market moved back to the center of town rather than the River Run parking lot. However, my biggest concern right now is getting a 5B Fruit in open in Hailey ASAP! =)
Where can people purchase your products?
Our products are available exclusively through 5B Fruit! We don’t take our show on the road but we do offer some awesome take-out and delivery options for events and parties.
