FOOD + DRINK

RAQUEL CARDOSO-PALMER: LICENCE 2 KALE

Raquel Cardoso-Palmer is the owner of Juice bar and kitchen; Licence 2 Kale A fan of super-healthy food and creative puns, Licence 2 Kale offers best-selling smoothie bowls and juices such as 'Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon Fruit', ‘Last Mango in Paris' and ‘Back to the Fruiter’, it is clear that Raquel Cardoso-Palmer, thoroughly enjoys her work.

"Food, it's a ritual in my family," she told us, "I was born in Portugal, but I am of African and Indian descent, so I grew up surrounded by exotic vegetables and fruits like mango, jackfruit, pawpaw and breadfruit. I remember as a kid, my mum had a macrobiotic diet because the majority of the women in my family have rheumatoid arthritis and asthma, so they have always made a very conscious effort to eat healthily."

Having achieved her university degree in theatre and education, Raquel came to the UK in 2011 and began a teaching career in 2012. "I went into teaching because I wanted to help people, I wanted to make a difference, it felt very much like a calling." But her rheumatoid arthritis began to cause problems. "It's a condition that can live with you for years and you don't have any symptoms, and then one day, just everything happens at the same time."

Raquel was prescribed medication for the condition, which included hydroxychloroquine, but this only made her feel worse; "That's when I decided that I needed to make a massive change. I went vegan for almost five years, although I now eat fish because I was lacking in Omegas, I stopped eating wheat, dairy and refined sugars and that, added to the good stuff that I was getting from juicing and doing smoothies, really changed everything. I realised that actually, I was onto something , and that fruit and vegetables were more of a medicine than any of the chemical-based medication I had been prescribed."

Raquel decided to take this knowledge and turn it into a business; "I thought, this is it! I love food, I love juicing and making smoothies, and I love talking to people, and I was literally joining together all of the things I love the most. Food, drinks, smoothies, juicing and talking!"

It is a huge leap to go from teaching to running your own retailing business, but Raquel is not put off so easily; "The closest I have ever been to this has been working in pubs when I was at university, so this is a massive learning curve for me, and I am having a blast, I really am. It gives me enormous satisfaction when someone buys a smoothie bowl and then takes photos because it looks so pretty, but also, once they eat it they say, oh my God, I'm going to be back tomorrow and funny enough since we opened, we don't have that many tourists coming into the shop. So my business has been made by the locals.

I have customers like Dan Lacey, he is a professional BMX rider, he always comes in for a sports smoothie, he works out often, and knows the smoothie will help with his recovery. He buys here so often, we have decided to create his own feature smoothie that we're going to have on sale in the shop."

As well as the smoothie bowls, which you can have from the set menu or select the toppings of your choice - goji berries, hemp seeds, blue spirulina, walnuts or almonds, to name but a few - there are also options to target specific health issues; "We have juices and smoothies for heart health, for detox and for an immune boost. The idea is to support your health with specific benefits for your body.

We are also providing 'Freshscriptions' which is a service where you can get a bottle of juice, you bring your own or you buy one of ours, and then you pay a monthly fee, or you pay as you go, refilling your bottle with a litre of juice. Our 'Freshscriptions' will have health benefits, but for more specific benefits such as for asthma, skin problems or menopause, you can have soups, porridge or salads, all of which will be coming soon, so we're getting there."

Equally important to Raquel is community spirit; "For me after Brexit, the community really mattered even more. We support the Church, Holy Trinity Hastings, by providing juices free of charge for their Safe Haven Men and Safe Haven Women support groups, so they can have something healthy and nutritious. We are also proud supporters of Pride. This year we had Paris Grande, a local Drag Queen, to come on our opening day. She created this signature drink, which is a rainbow smoothie, prepared in layers, and 20% of the proceedings are going towards Pride this year. So we want people to get to know us, support us, know what we're about. And more than that, just get involved in healthy eating."

So how did Raquel come up with the name? "We had 'Sea La Vie', we had 'Sand-Witch', we had all sorts of names and we landed on 'Licence 2 Kale' because for me it was the one that made me laugh the most. It made me literally laugh for about ten minutes straight! Then we saw this space, 37 Robertson Street in Hastings, close to the America Ground within the Trinity Triangle, and when I saw where it was located and how interesting the businesses around me were, I thought, yeah, this is it. It's so cute and quaint, some people say that this is area is going to become the Soho of Hastings."

Lastly, Raquel shared her vision for Licence 2 Kale; "I want to link everything together, healthy body, healthy mind, healthy eating, the three points to a healthy way of life.

And we could not agree more.

Licence 2 Kale @l2k_smoothies

By Charles Osaji & Rory Cameron

All images © ImageCrate

Share this article

YOU MIGHT LIKE…