So today I'll be discussing a cherry juice drink from Switzerland. There's not much else to say about its acquisition. It was from the Biotta brand.
The Biotta story dates back to 1931. Kind of. It's a little vague and confusing. Anyway, in that year the Gemuseban AG Tagerwilen company was formed, reportedly by a man named Dr. Hugo Brandenburger. This was originally an organic beverage company. However, it wasn't until 1957 that this business started marketing their first juice, made from carrots. So I'm not sure what the firm was doing in the 26 years in between this, other than presumably some sort of organic farming. Moving on, in 1961 the company changed its name to Biotta. "Bio" signifies organic in Switzerland, and the "ta" was from the town where the business was located, Tagerwilen. Biotta is incredibly involved with, and a proponent of organic agriculture and environmentally friendly practices. In 1951 Biotta committed to organic farming, following the methods developed by Dr. Rudolf Steiner in the 1920's, called anthroposophy. Another man, Hans Muller, further refined organic farming in the 1940's, and Biotta also utilized his directives. Biotta's juice collecting methods are also a bit unusual. Instead of the typical pressing of the fruit and vegetables, they instead decant the juice using centrifugation. This is supposedly more nutritious. The resulting juices are then pasteurized at a lower-than-normal temperature, which again allegedly creates juices that have better tastes, nutritional values, and shelf lives. (Although since the point of pasteurization is to kill harmful bacteria, I hope the temperatures are high enough to accomplish this!) Other company production methods are similarly eco and nutrition-friendly. Biotta only uses glass bottles, and sells the fruit and vegetable waste products back to farmers for use as animal feed. Biotta also maintain their own bees, 300,000 to be exact, in five colonies. Additionally, the business is carbon neutral, as their energy is all from renewable sources. Alternate flavors of their juices include apple beet ginger, beet, a beet ginger blend, a carrot orange ginger blend, carrot, celery root, elderberry, and even sauerkraut. In 2005 Dr. Hugo Brandenburger sold Biotta to the Thurella Group. (I know this seems off--was this the same guy who founded the company back in 1931? If so, he'd have to be like over 100 years old. Maybe someone else founded the company in 1931, or else this was a son or grandson with the same name and credentials.) And the U.S. distributer for Biotta is CAJ Food Products, Inc., out of Indiana. Readers with astounding memories might recall that I discussed another CAJ product over 5 years ago, in my February 16, 2019 post about odd drinks like beet juice. That drink was made by another company, in Austria. Finally, a business website reported that Biotta's workforce is 35 people, which given its size and reach seems a bit low.
Biotta tart cherry juice: This had a deep red color, and no real odor to speak of. It was as tart as advertised. Almost overwhelmingly so. There was only cherry juice in this, and no added sweeteners such as sugar. Maybe a dash or two of sugar would have improved the taste? (I know that Biotta will never do this, but in my opinion this would probably improve the taste.) It was still pretty good, but it was a very strong flavor. In general, I like cherries okay, although I don't eat them much, since I find the de-pitting process tiresome. Overall, this juice was good, and I would recommend it to those that like cherries.
One final tidbit--I noticed that the Biotta company is really big on juice cleanses. If you're unaware, this is the practice of drinking only fruit and vegetable juices for a time, and consuming no solid food, usually for between 1 to 7 days. It's supposed to clean out the toxins in your body. Well, once again I have to put on my science hat, and report that juice cleanses are nonsense. If your liver and kidneys are working properly, they're already removing toxins daily--that's one of their functions. And there's no evidence that fruit and veggie juices remove toxins. Plus, only drinking juices, without any other food, is a bad idea nutritionally. A human needs carbs, protein, and fat. Also other nutrients and electrolytes. Doing a juice "cleanse" can be potentially dangerous for diabetics and those with hypoglycemia. Dizziness, fainting, and diarrhea can occur in those folks, or even those without these conditions. So don't do juice "cleanses." At best it's a nonsensical waste of time, and at worst it's potentially harmful. The whole thing is mostly a cynical marketing ploy to see more juices. (To be clear, to stave off any angry messages--I'm clearly not saying drinking fruit and vegetable juices is a bad idea. I'm saying that ONLY drinking fruit and vegetable juices, and having no solid foods, is a bad idea.)
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