As Americans have become more health conscious in recent years, they’ve begun to pay more attention not only to what they eat but also what they drink. That’s created opportunities for local entrepreneurs, who are building businesses around healthful beverages.

Ash Shoukry is the owner of The Big Squeezy, a local chain of shops that sell cold-press juices and smoothies made from fruit and vegetables grown on the company’s farms in California and North Carolina. Ash and his then partner opened the first Big Squeezy in 2013 in the Perkins Road Overpass area, and in the years since what looked to be a risky concept in a conservative market has taken off.  

Jason Cheek is Manager of TruBlue Water, a new company that services businesses and residential customers in the Capital Region with water from the nearby Kentwood, Louisiana aquifer. TruBlue is owned in part by Jason’s wife, Amy, who had long wanted to get into the water bottle because she saw a need in the market for competition. Jason calls himself the water boy: he delivers 5-gallon artesian water bottles, 16-ounce cases of artesian water, water coolers and electrolyte replacement drinks. 

Out to Lunch is recorded live over lunch at Mansurs On The Boulevard.