When Lucy Taing-Cheam’s parents arrived in Long Beach as refugees from Cambodia in the ’80s, their focus was survival. In practice, that meant a lot of affordable, sometimes less-than-healthy carbs on the table.
They made sure their family was fed, but didn’t realize the importance of a balanced diet until their kids were older. While growing up, fruits and vegetables weren’t a regular thing for Taing-Cheam, and now as an adult, she struggles to eat fruits and vegetables on their own.
“Just the thought of me putting a blueberry in my mouth and trying to chew it, the texture is kind of, I don’t know, but if it’s in a smoothie or juice, no problem,” Taing-Cheam said.
Blending and pressing fruits and vegetables into smoothies and juices made them more palatable for Taing-Cheam and her family. They recently opened Kai Superfoods in Bixby Knolls to help others eat more fruits and vegetables, too.
“This is what we’ve been doing at home for the past 15 years or so,” Taing-Cheam said. “Why not share it with the community?”
Taing-Cheam’s family owns the popular Bixby Knolls Cassidy’s Corner Cafe. Mostly known for its bagels and sandwiches, there was also one simple acai bowl on the menu. When the juice bar next door closed, the family saw it as their opportunity to open a second business focused on acai bowls, smoothies and juices.
At Kai Superfoods, customers can order preset acai bowls, smoothies or juices, or customize their own acai bowls at every step of assembly. Bowls range from $11 for the small to $16 for the large, juices are $9 to $12, and smoothies are $10 to $14.
Taing-Cheam’s favorite acai bowl is half-acai-half-matcha for the base, either blue or matcha chia pudding, bananas, all of the seed toppings (hemp, sunflower, flax, chia and pumpkin), almond butter and agave.
Everything is made to order, which Taing-Cheam says gives the opportunity to talk with customers and spark a connection.
“Truly being a part of the community, [and] just being rooted to where we were born and raised, that’s the whole goal of it,” Taing-Cheam said.
Kai Superfoods will host a grand opening on Saturday. There will be an official ribbon cutting and a lion dance performance at noon, raffles and giveaways throughout the day, and everything will be 50% off.
Kai Superfoods is at 3844 Atlantic Ave. Soft opening hours are 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. every day. Starting Saturday, their hours will change to 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.