Eastcoast Juice, Kulnura

Samuel J. Lentini, Managing Director of Eastcoast, tells his family story:

‘My grandfather, Salvatore, started the business here almost sixty years ago as a market garden, picking and packing fruit and vegetables and sending them down to Sydney markets. 

When he first decided to move up to Kulnura from Cabramatta, everyone said, “Are you mad, going all that way in the bush?” but it was only an hour and a half away. He bought this farm first, then a farm down the road, and worked seven days a week, with mum and my uncles and aunties, living in the original homestead, which is now our office. They lived and worked the farm out of there. 

Around that time, the government lifted the tariffs on imported concentrate, which meant it was cheaper to import an orange concentrate from overseas than it was to squeeze it here in our own country. So that’s when Dad and his two brothers started to diversify, squeezing their own fruit and bottling spring water.

Nonno came here from Italy with nothing, pretty much, and he was able to give his eight children a house of their own before he passed away.  

I grew up here on the farm. It was awesome. I don’t know how I’m alive! Driving cars when I was about eight years old, motorbikes, roof surfing; all kinds of stuff. It was unreal’.

This place was always in my blood, but I wasn’t sure I was going to be part of it when I grew up. I started just bringing a couple of juices to some friends at school. I noticed there was a bit of a demand and realised I could make a thriving business out of it. So, then I took all of the books from my school bag and started filling it with frozen juices. I was making a handsome weekly profit by doing that — I was known as Juice Boy! It got so big that the canteen tried to shut me down, so I had to employ fruit juice runners on the school bus; I’d unpack all the juices from my bag and put it into their bags, and then we’d distribute it throughout the school yard. I did that until year 12. I had teachers on the payroll – I’d give them a two-litre bottle of juice to keep them quiet!