Zoe Sakoutis, founder of BluePrint, experienced the defining transformation of her life in 2000, when she went from full-scale carnivore to hardcore raw foodist overnight and first began her experiments with cleansing.

This experience, along with Zoe’s later work at the Morgans Hotel Group empire, heavily influenced what would become the BluePrint mission of offering juice cleanses as a regular and healthy process for busy people to help counteract the effects of periodic overindulgence, and removing the whole concept of cleansing from its prevalent holier-than-thou health-food attitude.

In order to combine that aesthetic with the best cutting-edge knowledge of nutrition, Zoe studied at the Ann Wigmore Natural Health Institute in Puerto Rico, and in 2001 became a Certified Nutritional Consultant (A.A.N.C.). Since then, she has evolved through many phases of nutritional orthodoxy to where she is today, a raw foodist, but also a New Yorker at heart who enjoys restaurants, the night life and all of their dietary perils.

Co-Founder Erica Huss has worked in some of NYC’s top restaurants and catering companies, eventually moving on to public relations before winding up as a food-television producer on Lidia’s Italian-American kitchen. Having known founder Zoe Sakoutis since they worked together in 2001, Erica joined BPC as a partner in 2007. She is now the marketing force of the brand as well as the architect behind BluePrint’s customer relations.

According to BluePrint Marketing Coordinator Micki Oliva, “Sakoutis and Huss knew that if people were going to reap the benefits of cleansing, they had to want to do it, so the two teamed up to create a delicious line of juices and a nutritional cleanse system that became BluePrintCleanse. It needed to be convenient for the modern person with a busy lifestyle and customized to one’s nutritional habits and dietary history.”

Recently, BluePrint was nominated for a Nexty at the 2012 Expo West, and NewHope360.com spoke with Oliva about their new product, BluePrintJuice.

newhope360: What made the company decide to go from cleanses to juices, and when did that take place?

Micki Oliva: In response to consumer demand, BluePrint launched BluePrintJuice in 2011. The line of fresh pressed, individually packaged juices is now sold through select retail outlets and offers fans everyday access to their favorite juice combinations in single bottles, whether to supplement a cleanse or just enjoy as a standalone beverage.

newhope360: Can you tell me the philosophy behind the company?

MO: At BluePrint, we live and promote a balanced, healthful and sustainable lifestyle. Feeding your body with whole foods and natural produce is the best long-term strategy for maintaining good health.

newhope360: How have sales been of the juices so far, and have there been any issues or problems with launching the new product?

MO: The wholesale business has grown exponentially since the initial launch of BluePrintJuice. The company is taking careful measures to roll out in a strategic way, to be able to support the product with in-store demonstrations and education.   The wholesale channel allows access to an entirely new audience that may not be familiar with the cleanse or with raw juice in general, so providing the necessary information and education on the topic has been a critical component of the roll-out.

newhope360: How are the juices made? Are they organic?

MO: The juice is made using a hydraulic press method that squeezes every bit of goodness out of the fruits and vegetables, while also preserving the maximum amount of nutrients and living enzymes, allowing the juice to stay fresh for longer than most juice yielded from commercial juicers. We source only the best fruits and vegetables and try to buy organic and local whenever possible.

The Nexty nominations were given out in support of NEXT: The Natural Products Industry Forecast 2013, a report produced by New Hope Natural Media’s Nutrition Business Journal and Sterling Rice-Group. Available this spring, NEXT provides a deep dive into the trends and market forces driving the natural products industry today and identifies the companies, products, people and ideas that will shape tomorrow’s natural products landscape. To learn more, go to www.nextforecast.com.