By Nicole Di Tomasso
Chaser’s Fresh Juice Vancouver has grown from a small 800-sq.-ft. juice shop in Yaletown to one of British Columbia’s largest cold-press juice manufacturers and suppliers. Run by the Forster family, Chaser’s has garnered a loyal following among bars, restaurants, hotels and grocery stores.
Before launching Chaser’s, husband-and-wife duo Al and Jill Forster owned and operated Forster’s Restaurants (seven locations) for approximately 30 years.
“We’ve always cared about the quality of the products we serve to our customers,” says Jill Forster. “We supported local producers and used as many fresh, local ingredients as possible. While there were great suppliers of B.C. and Alberta beef, fresh produce and VQA wineries to showcase on our menu, we noticed a large gap in the supply of fresh juice mixes to use in our craft-cocktail program. Hand-squeezing fresh juice for seven restaurant locations was costly and time-consuming.”
To address this gap, the Forster’s launched Chaser’s Fresh Juice Vancouver in 2013. Their daughter, Megan, is the general manager of Operations, and their son, Jamie, is the warehouse manager.
From the beginning, the emphasis has been on quality and integrity. Jill Forster says most produce is purchased from local farmers, such as spinach, ginger, berries, cucumbers, carrots and beets. Citrus is sourced from southern U.S. and limes are sourced from Mexico. The juices are made with upcycled fruits and vegetables, reducing food waste.
In 2020, the company expanded its service area to cover the entire province. In 2021, the company moved to an 11,000-sq.-ft. warehouse in Abbotsford, B.C. with expanded bottling equipment, larger cold-press production equipment and a 2,000 sq. ft. fridge.
Jill Forster says there are more than seven servings of fruit and/or vegetables in a 500ml bottle of Chaser’s juice. Currently, the company offers more than 50 fresh juices for food-and-beverage (F&B) customers (two litre, one litre, 500ml and 250ml sizes) and more than 23 SKU’s of juices and blends for grocery stores in both 500ml and one litre sizes. Chaser’s also supplies 355ml juices to cafés, cafeterias and healthcare institutions, as well as food manufacturers of ice cream/popsicles, breweries, bakeries and more.
Chaser’s freshly squeezed orange juice is the top seller at bars and restaurants. Other popular mixes for cocktail creation include Chaser’s fresh lime juice, lemon juice and ruby grapefruit juice.
“Why use the best spirits in a cocktail then top it off with a higher ratio of mix-to-liquor with a lesser than ‘real quality’ juice? It’s like putting ketchup on a filet mignon,” says Jill Forster.
The company’s juices are supplied to most of the top hotels in Vancouver and more than 180 restaurants. Juices for F&B outlets are also sold in Victoria, Whistler and other shippable locations in B.C.
For more than 11 years, Chaser’s has implemented several sustainable practices into its manufacturing.
“Our bottles are PET recyclable, as well as our caps and labels. All are returnable,” says Jill Forster. “Additionally, our juices are delivered to hotels and restaurants in the same fruit boxes we receive our products in, reducing packaging.”
Fresh juices aren’t dry-shelf stable and need to be refrigerated, but can last from one to three weeks at F&B outlets. Grocery store juices are HPP cold pressurized to extend the shelf life of product to more than 150 days while maintaining all their flavour, nutritional value and enzymes.
Chaser’s had a humble start and continues to focus on a single shared goal — to create a product that’s not only delicious but also packed with nutrients and free from artificial additives. Beyond being a purveyor of fresh juice, Chaser’s has become a community hub in Vancouver.
“We’re a wholesale supplier of a fresh product to assist F&B to make quality beverages,” says Jill Forster. “Many of our restaurants and hotels receive accolades and we’re proud of them. Our job is to help them do that.”
