After many "healthy juices", it's time for the aloe vera juice. Ramesh, a juice vendor from Nalgonda district in Telangana has come all the way to Vijayawada to try his luck.
Cleaned and neatly arranged Aloe vera plants on his mobile can attract the passersby. A juicer on the platform and a banner with information on uses of the Aloe vera makes them stop for a while.
Satyam, a resident of Madhura Nagar, says had it been a street vendor selling the plants on a pushcart, it would have been a normal scene for us. Usually, people hang the plant on the top of their main entrance to ward off the evils. We know that Aloe vera is used for treatment of sun burns but not as a juice. As the mobile juice shop is located near his house, he wondered when the juice shop was opened, he recalls.
Unlike butter milk concoction, the aloe vera juice tastes a little tangy. But, It’s become quite popular among my friends and we prefer it any day over a packaged drink, says Siva Kumar, a middle-aged customer. The drink has steadily gained popularity amongst our friends circle, he says.
Ramesh and his relative Ashok procure the aloe vera plants by truckload of a ton from Tamil Nadu every fortnight. They tasted the Aloe vera juice during their visit to Chennai and other places sometime ago. They, however, were not aware of techniques of its preparation.
"YouTube came to our rescue. We learnt the basics from it and made our own recipes. We are adding jaggery etc.," says Mr. Ashok.
"With high expectations we have come here to eke out our living by selling aloe vera juice. The demand, though picking up, we still need to wait for a few more days to earn decent earnings," says Mr. Ramesh.
About 20 to 30 glasses are sold every day. It's okay for now. People are receiving the new taste. While a glass costs ₹50, half a litre bottle costs ₹80. Some customers are buying half litre bottles as the juice can be used for two to three days if kept in refrigerator, Mr. Ashok says.
The other day, some doctors conducted a camp and distributed Aloe vera juice free of cost. People were ready to pay ₹6,000 per month and buy the same juice from those doctors but were sceptical to buy a glass of juice from us, he points out.
Their banner says, aloe vera is full of antioxidants. This healthy elixir in juice form provides you with a number of other health benefits.
