Married couple Sara and Matt Jackson will be opening a dedicated juice and smoothie takeaway in Sale, with their new business, The Juicy Unicorn, to launch next month.

The Juicy Unicorn will be located at 81 Cunninghame Street in Sale.

Sara said they were always looking to start a business, and this opportunity came at the right time.

“It’s a good time for us financially, the space was perfect, and since it’s takeaway only, if we were to go into a COVID lockdown we could stay open,” Sara said.

Previously, Matt was a fly-in fly-out worker for 15 years, and was made redundant when COVID happened, and will soon be working at The Juicy Unicorn full time.

Sara is a stay-at-home mum currently studying nursing, but will play a role in the company’s operations.

“Sara and I felt like there was a gap in the market for juice and smoothies in the area. We understand Wild Honey offers them and we love their drinks, but there isn’t a dedicated juice and smoothie bar,” Matt said.

“With the recent hype of the Boost Juice pop-up truck coming to Sale, it has only cemented our thoughts that Sale were waiting for a juice and smoothie bar to open up.”

While some may want to compare The Juicy Unicorn to Boost Juice, Sara and Matt want to be seen as their own entity.

“We want to be different from other companies, we want our drinks to be as fresh as possible,” Sara said.

“There’s no dining in, people can just grab a drink as they walk past on the way to work or to the shops.”

The building is close to the Sale clocktower and there’s plenty of places to sit.

“In our drinks there will be no added sugar, no artificial flavouring, no fruit concentrates, no sorbets, no ice cream, no flavoured yoghurt, it’s all fresh,” Sara said.

“If you want a mango smoothie, it’s the taste of mango, not the taste of mango nectar, mango sorbet or mango yoghurt.

“We’ll have our own chocolate and coffee smoothies, so there will be variety for people looking for that.”

The business from conception to its upcoming opening has been a quick process. Sara said the original idea was frozen gelato or frozen yoghurt (froyo).

“Matt came up to me on Christmas Day with the frozen yoghurt idea, and that day I drove down looking for shops that were vacant,” Sara said.

“Once we decide to do something, we go for it.” Matt said.

Sara said they made a post to a Sale community Facebook group and asked what they thought was missing in the area

“A lot of people said juice, smoothies or a Boost Juice, so we changed from a froyo place to a juice bar,” Sara said.

Sara said the juice menu is not set in stone and will be seasonal and take feedback into consideration.

“We’re a new business, so we can adapt the menu based on the demand,” she said.

The floods in New South Wales and Queensland have already forced them to make changes to their drink selection as the price of certain produce has spiked.

“We’re trying to have all our fruit and vegetables sourced locally from Lazzaro (Bros), so I hope everyone else can use this opportunity to support and shop local.”

The opening hours may also change based on the demand, but Sara and Matt said they hope their drinks can be enjoyed by kids before and after school and those going to and from work.

“That’s why we hope to stay open until 4.30pm on weekdays as a lot of places are shut by 3pm, and we will also be open on Saturdays,” Matt told the Gippsland Times.

Matt said they wanted a name that was simple, memorable and unique.

“Most names for juice bars have been taken, and since our daughter loves unicorns, rainbows and all that, we eventually came up with The Juicy Unicorn,” Matt said.

Sara said the image of the unicorn has already attracted attention.

“I had one lady walk past and take a photo of our logo, she said it brought her happiness, which is what we want,” she said.

The grand opening of The Juicy Unicorn is May 26.

Sara and Matt will be doing a “soft opening” in the second week of May, on a date to be confirmed soon.

Sara (left) and Matt Jackson. Photo: Stefan Bradley

Sara (left) and Matt Jackson.