Juice is flowing TORONTO - Kaldi's Enterprises has found a juicy market in upscale fast food outlets. The company has tapped a fresh juice trend which appears to be gaining momentum in the foodservice industry. The company has operating across Canada for 15 years, selling juice and granita (slush) machines, as well as pineapple corers. It has a strong penetration in Ontario supermarkets. In 1995 owners John Petsinis and Angelo Virgilio decided to start pitching their equipment to places such as espresso bars and bistros, as well as quick service outlets selling fresh prepared foods, and marche-style sit-down restaurants. The result was a $500,000 or 30 per cent increase in juice equipment sales for 1996, and another $250,000 or 15 per cent in 1997. Their customers include Mandarin Restaurants, Orange Julius/Dairy Queen, Movenpick Marches and Marchelinos, CarrotHeads, Paradise Juice and Yogurt Bars, Pickle Barrel Restaurants, Lettieri's Coffee and Espresso Bars, Yogen Fruz and Michel's Baguette. "Customers were realizing that although they couldn't eat five to 10 servings of fruits and vegetables per day, they could certainly handle a glass or two of fresh juice," says one of the owners Angelo Virgilio. Kaldi's is the exclusive Canadian distributor of the Zumex line of countertop orange juice extractors and the Ruby countertop fruit and vegetable juice extractor. CarrotHeads is expanding in Canada and negotiating to sell franchises in Europe and Australia. It expects to capitalize on a trend that it sees developing in Florida and California, and making its way to Canada and other countries. Late last year The Second Cup cafe chain opened a test location in downtown Toronto, called Jumpin' Juice.