Staying healthy with Mary Chan, founder of Garden of Eden

Located on busy See Cheung Street, Garden of Eden is a colourful store filled with fresh fruit and vegetables. Run by Mary Chan and her family, the shop also offers a selection of homemade juice. 

Born in Sai Kung, Chan moved to England over 30 years ago, working in the food industry. After her children grew up and moved out, Chan decided to move back to the city of her roots. She started her business eight years ago to promote a healthier lifestyle. “My family loves food, so I decided to settle down with a healthy juice store,” says Chan. 

When first starting the business, Mary had little knowledge about promoting, “I knew nothing about smartphones or online networking, so the store was basically promoted by word of mouth.”

Read more: Refresh your lunch choices with our top 10 salad bars

Now in her sixties, Mary has long been a sincere Christian and credits her dedication to the Lord as the inspiration for her shop. “Acquaint now thyself with him, and be at peace: thereby good shall come unto thee,” Chan reads as she points to a label sticking on her personalised juice bottle, which quotes Job 22:21 from the bible. “And that’s where my inspiration comes from,” she says. Along with her family, Chan lives in a church located above the store and regularly holds worship events in Lai Chi Kok. 

There is no fixed menu at the store, as Chan only uses seasonal fruit to experiment and develop new flavours. You’ll find the juice of the day in a foam box sitting outside the store. The first and most popular product at Garden of Eden is her beetroot juice, which consists of five different ingredients. “As our best-seller, it takes a long time to make,” says Chan. “Especially the guava in it, which usually takes a lot of effort to remove the cores and grind.”

In addition to the daily-delivered fresh fruit from Taiwan and Europe, the store is full of Chinese medicine herbs such as Dang Shen, Dang Gui, goji berries and jujubes. During the winter months, Chan mixes these ingredients to make warm herbal tea, improving sleep quality and “harmonizing qi and blood” (boosting energy levels). 

“Using natural ingredients is what I’ve always insisted on,” says Chan. “That’s the secret to staying healthy.”