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Smoothie Delivery Service Sends Organic Kits to Customers' Doors

 A new Prospect Heights-based business delivers organic smoothie ingredients weekly.
Green Blender Smoothie Delivery Service
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PROSPECT HEIGHTS — New Yorkers can get almost anything delivered to their doors, from movies and groceries to warm cookies and Christmas trees. Now, smoothie-ingredient kits can be added to the list.

A Prospect Heights couple is aiming to give the health crowd the convenience of delivery with ingredient kits for organic fruit and vegetable smoothies sent to customers' homes and workplaces.

Health and fitness blogger Jenna Tanenbaum, 25, and freelance web and tech developer Amir Cohen, 30, got the idea for their company Green Blender when friends and family gave their smoothies rave reviews. They liked blending unusual ingredients but wished the process could be easier.

“Amir said it would be great if someone just thought of really unique [smoothie] recipes and gave me just the ingredients I need so I don’t have to buy a whole bag of acai berries or a pound of hemp seed,” Tanenbaum said.

They put that idea into action last month when they began personally making deliveries of smoothie ingredients to clients in parts of Manhattan and Brooklyn every Wednesday for $49 a week, which Cohen calculated is less than $5 per smoothie.

“You’ll receive five original recipes and all the pre-apportioned ingredients to make 10 smoothie servings,” he said.

Though juicing and vegetable-smoothie-making may sound like a health nut’s game, Tanenbaum envisioned that Green Blender could help anyone looking to eat better.

“You can always be a little healthier,” she said. “Starting your day off with a healthy decision — we wanted to make that as easy as possible.”

Green Blender kits come with all ingredients ready to use, including fresh produce.

“All you have to do is dump it in your blender, blend it and add ice,” Tanenbaum said.

For those who are used to sweet fruit smoothies, she stressed that Green Blender recipes will include “lots of vegetables” and have low-sugar content.

“We want to make sure that you’re actually getting your nutrients,” she said. “It’s not hard to eat fruits. What we want to do is add the spinach, the beets and the vegetables that are nutrient-rich.”

The venture has been a success so far, Tanenbaum said, with “new signups every day.” She and Cohen are in talks with food purveyors, distributors and manufacturers to figure out how to get the best organic and local foods for their smoothies — and to find a bigger venue for their business, which they're running from home for now.

A subscription to Green Blender costs $49 per week. Tanenbaum and Cohen deliver to Manhattan south of 130th Street and to most north Brooklyn neighborhoods, including Greenpoint, Williamsburg, Bedford-Stuyvesant, Clinton Hill, Cobble Hill, Carroll Gardens, Red Hook, Crown Heights, Prospect Heights, Park Slope, Fort Greene, DUMBO, Windsor Terrace and Gowanus.