Gertrude Thomas '22
Nurse Manager
DNP ’22 (School of Nursing)
Alumni Association Member
About Pure Ginger For YOU
Pure Ginger For You is a family-owned business that was started during the heat of the Covid Pandemic. We made ginger drinks as an added immunity boost to constant Covid exposure. During the pandemic, I worked as an ICU Nurse at Hennepin Healthcare. Ginger is commonly used in Liberian households as hot or cold tea, and is even used as a mixer for alcoholic beverages. We began offering some of our ginger drinks to friends and loved ones here in the U.S. as well. This trial extended to farmer's markets across the Twin Cities. Our brand was fast becoming the marker of good market days by our early sellouts.
High demand of our cold pressed organic ginger based juices, ginger shots, and ginger hot and cold teas during the summer and winter months led to the opening of our brick and mortar store on October 15, 2023.
We source our fruits locally from farmers in Minnesota. We are proud to say that our apple ginger based drinks are produced from locally grown varieties including the "Zestar!®" apples, produced by the University of Minnesota horticulturalists.
You can find us on weekends, throughout the year at Mill City Farmer's Market, or North East Farmer's Market in Minneapolis.
Or visit our storefront at 3408 University Avenue SE in Minneapolis opposite KSTP studio. We produce onsite!! We deliver around the Twin Cities and are available for large batch deliveries for events.
Address
3408 University Avenue SE
Minneapolis, MN 55414
Contact
About Gertrude
Gertrude Thomas migrated to the U.S. in 2000 with her daughter who was three years old at the time, fleeing the brutal civil conflict in Liberia. She came ahead to find a better life for her child and future family. Her husband, Beauclarc, joined her two years later from Liberia, and they both settled in Minneapolis, Minnesota, starting a new life. She became a nursing assistant and worked her way to becoming a doctoral prepared nurse in 2022.
She and her husband’s drive to instill entrepreneurship spirit into their U.S. born sons, while maintaining a healthy perspective, driven by her nursing background, moved them to embrace the opening of an organic ginger based cold pressed juice company during the Covid Pandemic. They started out by preparing ginger drinks hot and cold as an immunity boost, shared with their friends, families, and moved on to sell at farmers markets locally.
They work as a family to produce the cold pressed ginger drinks, sourcing fruits from local farmers. Their unique mixes of ginger-based apple drinks, ginger watermelon, or ginger pineapple shots, and hot or cold ginger teas can now be purchased at their local storefront. Their juices have been highly recommended by. loyal customers as mixers for alcoholic beverages as well.
Gertrude works as a nurse leader during the day, and joins Beauclarc after work at their local storefront, setting up decorations and interacting with customers. She loves the interaction at the shop as it creates a completely different experience for her.
