JUICE making can be categorised as an art because it requires special skills to get the right ingredients and mix to produce a best tasty juicy drink.

As humans we need water and something juicy to quench our taste during a hot sunny day.

Meet Jamaica Tanito, 41, who possesses the secret and skills to make the right juice mix using fruits and other ingredients.

This specialised skill had earned him the name ‘The Juiceman’ of Gizo, the Western Provincial capital.

If you are visiting Gizo main market, his juice is highly sought by many customers because of how he used to blend the fruits into something juicy and healthy to drink.

If you are talking about varieties of juice flavours, Tanito has the skills to get the right flavour.

His customers range from locals to international visitors, from the very young to the elderly. Even the sick have also ordered fruit juice from him.

For over 30 years Tanito, was involved in making and selling varieties of tasty juice at Gizo.

He learned the skills from his mother.

As a young lad he used to tag along with his mother to Gizo market to sell ice-blocks and juice.

Sometimes when his mother is busy, he would step in to sell ice-blocks and juice.

After completing his high school, he was unable to continue with his education due to financial constraints. He did not hesitate to continue with the legacy of her mother by engaging in ice-block and juice making.

He did not regret the bold move because its now his bread and butter making a living out of this profession.

Tanito is originally from Varunga, in Choiseul but has settled with his parents as a young man in Gizo.

“I was born and raised in Gizo so this place is like my home now,” he said.

As a young boy he used to support his mother to mix juice and also sell them at the Gizo main market, he recalled.

Through her mother, he was able to develop the skills to produce juice and also the courage to sell juice at the Gizo market.

And everyone came to love his juice.

Because of that, he came up with a slogan for his juice ‘Everybody’s Favourites’.

Juice production and selling is more than a passion but is now his main form of earning an income and living.

From selling juice he was able to build his own home and even own a car.

He has his own blending machines to extract juice.

Tanito a former newspaper sales man for Island Sun and Solomon Star has been in the juice making business for over 30 years now.

He used to produce ice-block over the past years but now concentrate on producing juice.

He plans to expand his business to other centres in Western Province.

One of the challenges he faces is accessing cheaper disposal cups.

At the moment he is buying disposal cups from the shops in Gizo and its very costly.

But in the future, he wants to order directly to the manufacturers overseas to produce cups that carry his brand and slogan.

He sells juice in a 350mls disposal cup at a cost of $5.00 and it has been a favourite for many people who passed through Gizo.

Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays has always been a busy time for him and the juice are not spared by his regular customers.

Words of how tasty the juice are normally spread through words of mouth.

So whenever, guests and customers drop by at Gizo, they would pop by at the market to get a cup or two.

Many overseas guests and even medical workers also recommended his juice.

Apart from selling juice at the market he also produces juice for catering, graduation, weddings, birthdays, church programs and other private functions.

He also blend fruit juice for the sick based on orders.

Some of the fruit juice he normally produces are; lemon, cucumber, soursop, pineapple, melon, pawpaw, ginger, passion fruit and many more.

By buying fruits in bulk from the local farmers it also benefits and supports the farmers through income, he added.

With the income earned, Tanito spent it to support his family, education, food, clothing, communication, transport, medical and other household needs.

Apart from being a juice maker, he also holds a number of positions in the province.

Currently he is the Team Leader for the Food Sector at the Gizo Market Vendors Association.

He is also an executive member of the Western Provincial Youth Entrepreneurship Council and is the treasurer for the group.

Last week they also participated during the weeklong the Western Province Day celebration.

Looking back, he said, his success thus far comes through hard-work and dedication.

He also reminded youths that if they are want to engage in business activities, they need to start small, be committed and dedicated to what they are engaged in.

He recently highlighted that it is sad to see many youths today wasting their energy and youthfulness on things that don’t even add value in the name of enjoying their youth.

“Many youths waste their time thinking they still have time to do the serious things later not knowing that in the process of enjoying, they are attracting wrong company which may be difficult to get rid of should they decide to be serious or worse they may get used to such a life and it may become their new normal.

“One thing a person is likely to attract during the enjoyment process is a wrong partner,” he said.

So if you happen to visit Gizo market anytime don’t forget to stop for a cup of tasty juice.

By MOFFAT MAMU