To Richard Griffin, owner of Dr. Farm Organic Juices, wellness means breaking way from old habits and creating new, healthier ones. Living for your future, your kids, your family or significant other. That’s what he decided to do when he started juicing about two years ago, which he has turned into a passion project and business.
Juicing is often looked on as a fad because of its reputation as a way to lose weight quickly or provide otherworldly health benefits. But it can play a role in a balanced diet to improve health, and juicing can also address certain health conditions. Griffin, a former personal trainer, nutritionist, life coach and competitive body builder, was dealing with acid reflux, irritable bowel syndrome, and a lot of inflammation throughout his body.
Through his cousin’s persistence, Griffin became a believer in holistic wellness, an approach to health that considers the whole person, encouraging focus on the four-legged stool of health—physical, emotional, mental and spiritual. One of the key principles of that belief is that the body can heal itself in the right conditions, so Griffin began taking turmeric and ginger shots, eating lots of fruits and, yes, juicing.
“I started noticing within the first two weeks that acid reflux wasn’t as bad,” Griffin said. “That my stomach was settling more and more, and I wasn’t feeling as empty. By the 30-day mark, I started feeling tremendous. I wasn’t waking up in the middle of the night, and I really wasn’t having to monitor what I was eating as far as spicy food.”
Juicing for other people originally started as a hobby before he transformed that side hustle into Dr. Farm Organics, his all-natural juice company. Griffin sources all of his produce from local farmers and throughout the region. He started recommending the same regiment to the other people he knew who were dealing with the same complications, and he began receiving overwhelmingly positive feedback.
The name comes from a coincidental clash of the words doctor and farm while he was hanging out with family and friends but found it to be particularly in line with his belief that nature was and still is the first source of medicine, and always will be.
A medley of all-natural juices
“Juices are really healing,” said Zjarmaine Paredes, who owns her own wellness business selling herbal blends in Savannah. “If you think about it this way, you’ll never be able to get all of the fruits you need, and Dr. Farm is bringing it to you in a clean, easy way.”
Each of Griffin’s juices purports to aid in healing a part of the body.
His Purple Melody―a blend of beets, carrots, celery, apples, ginger and lime―help the liver, heart, kidneys and digestive system. The mix of ginger, turmeric, lemons, and black pepper work together to eliminate inflammation.
Most of Griffin’s juices center on aiding the digestive system and the gut’s microbiome, where 80% of a person’s immune system exists and influences everything from metabolism to mental health. His most popular is Tropical Bay, a strawberry-kiwi-lemon concoction., but his personal favorite is Passion Flower, which is a lavender lemonade made with an herb native to Southeast Asia that also fights inflammation.
While selling his juices, Griffin makes a point to educate and empower people on the importance of nutrition, asking them if they are dealing with any health complications or just looking for something refreshing.
“I think I’ve changed a lot of people’s perspectives when it comes to juicing,” Griffin said. “Because they think that most of the products they get on the shelf in the stores are healthier for them, which they are not.”
About six months ago, Griffin, who also owns a trucking company, realized that Dr. Farm was something he could potentially make his full-time profession. Seeing the reaction to his juices was “priceless,” he said.
“People started calling me Dr. Farm, or the juice man,” Griffin said. “I realized that this was a great brand, and this was going to be great. I wanted to create a brand that was sustainable and going to be around for generations, something the community can enjoy.”
To build that lasting brand, Griffin graduated from the inaugural class of Spark Savannah, a 12-week crash-course in how to run a successful small business and scale it. The most important thing he learned was the importance of marketing yourself.
“If you market your product just right, that’s going to potentially take you from here, all the way to the top,” Griffin said. “You can have a great product all day, but if no one knows about you or your brand, then it’s kind of meaningless.”
Right now, Griffin sells his juices at Rum Runners Bakery, 324 W. Bolton St., and at the Daffin Park Farmers’ Market on Wednesdays. Next step: expanding into more markets.
Destini Ambus is the general assignment reporter for the Savannah Morning News, covering the municipalities, and community and cultural programs. You can reach her at [email protected]
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