Turning Point

"ABOUT two years ago, I was working as a strategic planner at a top advertising agency. I loved my job but it became increasingly demotivating. So many great ideas came to nothing. At around the same time, a relative had breast cancer and my mum, who is a homeopathist, suggested she drink pomegranate juice for its health benefits. It got me thinking. I started knocking around ideas for an organic juice company with a Turkish friend, Onur Kece. He's a creative genius and was art director on the award-winning Telstra Bigpond Great Wall of China rabbits commercial. In Turkey, pomegranates are revered for their qualities, having seven times the antioxidants of green tea. When we launched Found Organic Super Juices from a unit in Bondi 18 months ago, it was so hard to raise awareness. It's been a steep learning curve having to deal with growers in Turkey, freight, logistics and distribution with just the two of us. But the biggest challenges have been minimising prices and breaking into supermarkets. They seem to have a $2 cap for juices. Because our first product is not made from concentrate and takes 41/2 pomegranates to make a small bottle, it retails from $3 to $4. Having said that, we believe organics are the way of the future. We've gone from knocking on hundreds of shop and cafe doors to operating out of a warehouse and creating an online shop selling eight naturally flavoured juices. It's been a whirlwind ride and we feel like we've done 12 university degrees in one year. But now we're a totally carbon-neutral company and we're looking at going global. That's really satisfying."

BECKY BARKER