Kareema Batal

'I am Kareema Batal, the Co-founder and Product Developer for Neo Juicery. Neo Juicery is a cold pressed juice and plant based beverage manufacturer. We are based in Edmonton, and have been locally owned and operated since inception in 2017. The vision that guides what we do is a food system without barriers. We work towards this by making REAL juice for REAL people. That is, Responsible, Energizing, Accessible and truly Local products. Our mission is to build a business that exemplifies and contributes to the food system we want to be a part of in the future. We believe strongly in this value and have designed our business to fulfill that mission in everything that we do.

I am a Food Scientist with a BSc in Nutrition and Food Science and a MSc in Human Ecology. I’ve spent the last decade of my life working with independent food companies each chipping away at the status quo of our food system in Canada. I aspired to be a leader in this space and so I started my own venture, Neo Juicery. Since 2017, I have provided mentorship to other business owners through the Alberta Agriculture and Food Council (AFC), sat a three-year term by appointment from the Minister of Agriculture as an adjudicator on the Marketing of Agriculture Products Appeal Tribunal, Facilitated leadership lectures as a two-time Teaching Fellow at the Peter Lougheed Leadership College and conducted an inter-agency research project on the enhancement of socially conscious business practices in Edmonton as a Social Innovation Fellow at the Social Innovation Institute at Grant MacEwan University. My commitment to socially-led, human-centered business development is deep rooted in my desire to see business done better in Canada. I channel this passion in how I design and operate my business so I can provide an example to my peers and community."