They would have to carry it on their backs to mills where the juice was extracted,” he explains.Īs a youngster, he fondly remembers enjoying cutting and eating raw sugar cane during a vacation on his family’s land in Top Hill, St Thomas. “Make no mistake, our African ancestors came to the Caribbean under horrific conditions and often worked for 18 hours a day, six days a week in the blistering sun, planting and reaping the sugar cane. Sign up for The Gleaner’s morning and evening newsletters.Ī history graduate of the London School of Economics, Davy spent many years studying the history of the slave trade, sugar, and how it affected the Caribbean, its legacy, and its generational effects from the 18th century to the present day. I have an overriding desire to destigmatise a plant that is integral to our past, is a part of our present, and could well play an important part in our future,” he says. Being of Jamaican heritage, the negative association with the sugar industry, and its ties to slavery, made me want to transform a problematic past into a positive future for generations to come.
Having moved to Jamaica in 2018, Davy now has his eyes set on changing the juice industry, “after selling different Jamaican commodities: mainly our world-renowned Jamaica Blue Mountain coffee and Maypan coconuts – I realised I want to give a nod to my ancestors by revolutionising the juice market. With a growing corporate list including the Royal Academy, the Capital Hills Hotel Group, Hilton Hotels, local government associations, and Google UK, among others, I knew I was on to something world-class and unique,” he recalls. Soon, I was being asked to attend events such as the Notting Hill Carnival. Back then, everyone thought I was crazy, importing cane at considerable cost from Jamaica and juicing it with a modified iron clothes mangle – but the customers kept coming. I started at a market stall on Brixton Station Road in London.
“I had a simple idea, and slowly everyone started to catch on. Davy started cold-pressing cane juice back in the United Kingdom in 2012 when he discovered how much people enjoyed drinking the combination of refreshing and sweet taste and found out about its long-term health benefits.
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