ASU alum opens juice bar at Tempe Sun Devil Fitness Complex

There’s a new juice bar on campus that’s serving healthy drinks, as well as fresh sandwiches and salads.

ASU alum Laura Pich started The WELL after graduating from the university with a degree in interdisciplinary studies, with a concentration in business and economics in 2010.

Pich had already worked a variety of challenging jobs – managing her family’s business as a teenager, working as a stockbroker and serving as a financial operations team lead at a consulting firm – before deciding to pursue another passion and opening a natural foods juice bar and café at the Tempe campus Sun Devil Fitness Complex.

Now she is working to bring her cold-pressed juices, sandwiches and salads to the community for healthy options that are primarily organic and locally sourced.

“We’re not just a juice bar. We truly thrive on supporting local businesses and being as organic as we can be,” Pich said. “We have quite a few people who have become regulars and come in every day.”

Sample offerings at The WELL include drinks such as the CoCoMango, made with organic coconut water, mango, pineapple, banana and whey protein. Others include the AZ SunRise, Vanilla Date and Green Life. Or, patrons can try a cold-pressed juice with beet, carrot, apple, lemon and celery, and one made from carrot, orange, lemon and ginger.

Protein smoothies come in energy-producing flavors such as the popular Kickstart, a single espresso shot, organic oats, peanut butter, skim milk and chocolate protein. There are also options like Lifted that combines organic seasonal berries, vanilla yogurt, banana and low-fat milk.

Salads are healthy combinations of flavors such as the Marinated Kale, with grape tomatoes, sliced apple, sunflower seeds, almond slices and grated parmesan. A Miso Salad has cucumber, grape tomatoes, herbs, julienne carrots and sesame seeds. Sandwich selections include the Turkeywich, with smoked turkey, greens, tomato jam, red onion, tarragon and aioli, and Veggiewich, a blend of cucumber, tomato, greens, red onion, avocado, vegan pesto spread and feta.

Building the business was a labor of love that grew from the ground up in the Tempe Sun Devil Fitness Complex’s new wing.

“I decided to put everything into this project. It was hard, but it was a great learning experience,” she said.

Now that Pich is back on campus, she’s working with students, faculty and staff on feedback for menu items, and coordinating with the Graduate Student Association on a community program that allows people to come in and pick up a box of produce on a bi-weekly basis.

Pich is looking to involve more aspects of the ASU community in The WELL, possibly creating a review board that could taste menu items, and reaching out to other campuses with a mobile juice bar. Patrons can track what’s happening at The WELL through Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @thewellasu.