After becoming a customer favorite at the Durango Farmers Market, Love n’ Juice moved into a location at 11th Street Station in December.

Owner Priscilla Newbold prides herself on the business’ all-natural smoothies and juice with no added sugar. But for Newbold, juicing and making smoothies is more meaningful than just blending or squeezing fruit.

In 2014, Newbold was diagnosed with breast cancer, and her doctors had suggested that she stop drinking caffeine. In search of a new energy source to start her day, she started juicing.

Owning a juice bar had been a longtime dream of hers and when she moved to Durango five years ago, she knew it couldn’t happen right away. Previously, Newbold worked at the Fort Lewis College dining hall as the marketing coordinator.

She still works at the college but the marketing coordinator position was removed after the pandemic. She now works as a marketing support supervisor for the dining hall.

However, much of her time now is spent working at Love n’ Juice as the smoothie truck’s primary employee. Love n’ Juice started at the Durango Farmers Market in 2022 and gained popularity for its “Happy Me” and “Berry Tropical Love” juices.

The “Happy Me” juice is a combination of carrots, beets, apples and ginger that offers a bit of spice to the juice.

“Beets have so many properties and benefits for your circulation and immune system,” Newbold said.

The “Berry Tropical Love” is a mixture of berries, pineapple and cantaloupe with a crisp sweeter alternative to the “Happy Me.”

All of the juices are cold pressed, which means the juices tend to retain more of the fruit’s nutrients.

“Cantaloupe is really good for hydration and for your skin. It has a lot of vitamins,” Newbold said.

After not having luck finding a food truck location at Lola’s Place and outside of the Main Avenue Homeslice location, Newbold saw that a previously owned smoothie truck was for sale at 11th Street Station. She moved into the location at 11th Street Station on Dec. 2.

In addition to juices, Love n’ Juice offers smoothies and other food items. Two favorites are the “Rainbow of Love” that contains strawberries, blueberries, bananas and orange juice; and the “Mangonificent” made up of mango, pineapple, bananas and orange juice.

It's important that all of the products sold by Love n’ Juice are locally sourced, Newbold said.

She gets all of her ingredients from local farms and businesses. For her food menu items, Love n’ Juice offers different forms of bagelinis and paninis. Newbold said she gets her bagels from Omni Bagels and her panini bread from Bread. She gets her bean sprouts for the paninis from Turtle Lake Refuge.

Love n’ Juice also offers vegan baked goods from Earth’s Garden Vegan Gourmet Co.

All of the smoothie truck’s menu items have names that reflect positivity.

“I was able to survive cancer, so everything is positive for me,” Newbold said.

La Plata Food Equity Coalition special projects coordinator Tomas German-Palacios helps Newbold find resources and shares nutritional information.

German-Palacios works as a functional medicine health coach and offers insight on the benefit of offering natural menu items.

“When Priscilla said she was going to do juices, I said, ‘That's awesome. How can I support you?’ he said.

German-Palacios said that many people don’t eat a balanced diet and that natural juices can give people nutrients that they need.

“As an example, like my wife when she's feeling sick, we come and get smoothies and green drinks, that way she’s getting that whole phytonutrient spectrum to help the body boost its immune system,” he said.

He said Newbold brings a culture of using fresh ingredients from Mexico City, where she’s originally from.

Newbold said it's important that when people visit Love n’ Juice, they understand that the food or drinks they’re purchasing are healthy.

She said people will often come and ask for smoothies with sugar or Red Bull in them and she will offer them a healthy alternative. She admits that offering sugary drinks might make her more money but it’s more important to offer healthy options.

tbrown@durangoherald.com