Organic cane juice to quench your thirst

Keeping the same ‘mantra’ in mind, a farmer in Sampaje near Sullia opened a sugarcane juice shop around 12 years ago on Sullia-Madikeri road, where he began supplying fresh cane juice to the travellers. The small shop which was opened a decade back still exists and runs in profit, only reflecting the popularity of sugarcane juice among the public.

The reason why the juice shop of Shankar Prasad Rai in Sampaje stands apart from rest of the stalls is for the sugarcane used in the juice stall is not bought from the market, but Rai grows the sugarcane in his 2 acres of land nearby and supplies fresh juice to the customers.

Speaking to City Herald, he said the idea of opening the sugarcane juice stall flashed in his mind as the Sullia-Madikeri State Highway witnesses thousands of vehicles passing on the road everyday. “When I decided to open the stall, the next idea that stuck to my mind is, how about selling fresh juice by growing sugarcane in the field. Without a second thought, I invested more than Rs 1 lakh, grew sugarcane plants, bought the juice extracting machine and opened the stall,” he recalls.

Rai is a post graduate in social work (MSW) from Roshni Nilaya School of Social Works and is into farming occupation since the completion of his post graduation. A strict organic farmer, Rai says that he does not use chemical fertilisers to feed sugarcane field. Instead makes use of organic manures. “I grow sugarcane plants twice in a year in two acres of land I own. We cut the plants, clean them and immediately prepare juice so that the freshness remains till the customer finishes the last sip of the juice. Moreover, we don’t buy ice pieces from outside, but we ourselves prepare the ice cubes so that the hygiene factor is maintained. Most of the customers who avoid mixing ice in the juice, thinking that filthy ice used, agree to add the ice as soon as we assure them that ice prepared at home,” informs Rai.

With his family consisting of five members and four workers, Rai is successfully running his business in the small village by selling hygienic sugarcane juice for Rs 10 (per glass).