Pura Vida Juice Bar on 19/09/08

Pura Vida Juice Bar _ Buenos Aires

 

 

Buenos Aires’ denizens are known for taking care of themselves. After all, Argentina is the number one destination worldwide for plastic surgery, so personal appearance is obviously at a premium. Yet the local diet seems to consist mainly of steak, pizza, pasta, and empanadas. In a country obsessed with good looks and with a diet heavy on the fats, it was only a matter of time before some enterprising individuals introduced a healthy alternative.

Pura Vida Juice Bar began as an idea in the minds of Marty Hanna and Juan Pablo Dulanto. During a visit to the city that was fueled heavily by meat and wine, Marty found himself craving a healthy meal but was left with no real options. Cue the light bulb going off in Marty’s head and the Pura Vida business plan was born. Originally from Miami, Marty was a big fan of juice bars already and thought that the Buenos Aires health-conscious porteños would be interested in a product that uses only the highest quality and freshest ingredients available. Marty didn’t originally think of himself as an entrepreneur, but the prospect of owning his own business and the freedom he wanted from a job in insurance sales was enough to persuade him to try.

Marty and Juan Pablo chose Buenos Aires because of the relatively low start-up costs, as well as what they viewed as a very large untapped market. It took them 6-7 months of planning and organizing before they opened their first location. Having undergone this tiresome process Marty has a couple of suggestions for those thinking about starting their own business in a country like Argentina:

1) Doubling your projected startup costs. Argentina can make it difficult to start a business.

2) Try to anticipate and learn from every step that must be taken, eliminate all the surprises you can.

3) Know Castellano fluently, or have a partner who does.

4) Have a clear strategy for what you want to do; just because you have an idea doesn’t mean it will work.

Once that first location opened, locals and backpackers alike flocked to this health food oasis. Fueled by word of mouth and an increasingly famous clientele, Pura Vida quickly found success. Since, they have been recognized by many publications as a great option for health-nuts, including: The Argentimes, Rolling Stone and Elle Magazines as well as Time Out city guides. For those looking for work in Buenos Aires, Pura Vida is actively hiring motivated staff to help them share in said success; the only requirement is a great attitude and your D.N.I.

Offering a wide variety of juices, smoothies, salads, sandwiches / wraps, soups, and muffins, Pura Vida is a veritable cornucopia of green options. They even offer wheatgrass, which unbeknownst to this writer, offers a laundry list of health benefits including ‘energy to sex hormones’. Who knew?! As a serious journalist, I thought it my duty to personally try the Berry Berry Good smoothie and true to its name, it was very, very good. Any drink that involves blending blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, strawberries, and orange juice is going to pique my fancy. If you were to close your eyes and point at random towards the Pura Vida menu, you will surely land on something delicious. And while the thought of ‘energy and sex hormones’ was intriguing, I wasn’t brave enough to try the wheatgrass shot, although it’s a likely alternative for my return trip?

This reporter visited the Pura Vida Microcentro location at Reconquista 516, a stylishly painted venue with vibrant colors and with the orange-slice logos adorning most of the walls. The place was bustling at 4pm on a Thursday, with most of the chairs at the tables and bar filled by customers enjoying fruity concoctions. The employees on staff were quick and friendly - eager to take my order and were obviously enjoying themselves. If you live to far from the Microcentro, Pura Vida offers this same health food oasis at their original location in Recoleta, at Uriburu 1489.