It was a record year for the World Juice Conference 2003 with 46 countries represented by 200 companies at the Amsterdam-based event. From October 6-8 the conference, now in its eighth year, attracted more than 300 delegates from the processing, retail, and packaging sectors, while speakers from across the globe debated current and future developments in what is largely seen to be a testing time for global fruit harvests.
Two well-known operators received awards for their products. Marks & Spencer's fresh, additive-free pineapple juice which is produced, bottled and processed in Ghana and on the retail shelves within 48 hours received recognition, as did Elopak for its Diamond Portion pack allowing easy consumption of juice on the go.
In the ever-expanding juice industry packaging has become as important to foodservice as it is to the end-consumer and current innovations within the sector reflect that. South African juice manufacturer, Trufruit mixes not from concentrate (nfc) and orange concentrate in three and five litre wine-type boxes. A 20 litre box is also available for the catering trade and Trufruit has now secured a listing with the UK cash and carry chain Macro. An extension of shelf-life is the main advantage of this type of packaging and the juice can be drunk for up to 12 months after opening.
The idea of fruit juices packaged in the same way as boxes of wine is not unique and is currently being developed in the UK by Vigo for use with English apple juice. “There is a huge potential to increase sales of apple juice with the box in a bag concept,” says managing director Alex Hill. “Apple juice is currently sold in glass and that is something that a lot of outlets such as schools just can't accept. Glass is heavy to work with and is also very expensive to dispose of.”
Due to be released next spring, in three, 10 and 20 litre packs, Hill believes that the concept has huge market potential.
“The bag in a box idea eliminates the difficulties of having juice in glass,” he says. “The new packaging would be far less bulky and would not pose any health or safety risks. In short, I think it has the possibility to transform the apple juice business by opening up market possibilities that are at present closed.”
Most people will be familiar with the wide array of fruit juice mixes that are currently available, but, says Tony Harwood, managing director of Pago Fruit Juices, up to a quarter of all the fruit juice consumed in the UK is orange. And orange juice remains of key importance in the juicing sectors across the globe.
According to Commodities and Trade, the food and agricultural organisation of the United Nations, exports of frozen concentrated orange juice from the US fell by 71 per cent to 21,000 tonnes (65 brix) between October 2002 and May 2003 owing to a smaller harvest in Florida. Between July 2002 and May 2003 those from Brazil remained almost unchanged at 1.04mt while Mexican exports contracted due to a reduced orange crop. Imports dropped in the EU but increased in North America and remained stable in Asia.
The share of nfc orange juice in total US juice production continued to increase, reaching 52 per cent in 2002-03. According to USDA, shipments of nfc rose by 12 per cent to 140,000t from October 2002 to May 2003, and Canada received 80 per cent of this volume.
More than 95 per cent of Florida's orange crop is processed for juice and in light of this year's predictions for a bumper crop of 240m boxes, despite lower production in Brazil global supplies are unlikely to be drastically reduced and as such, prices from concentrate orange juice are likely to remain relatively stable.
According to many, the Florida citrus industry is already holding record stocks of juice, the majority of which is nfc. Suggestions abound that Florida's processing capacity (240 million boxes) with not be able to cope with an excess of fruit.
Oranges are not the only fruit, and in light of bumper stocks and declining consumption, price levels have plummeted for white grapefruit concentrate.
One of the recent successes on the UK market has been the fast-expanding array of exotic fruit mixes and the potential of these drinks is not just limited to retail. Pago Fruit Juices sells to pubs, hotels and leisure centres with the aim of expanding the fruit juice ranges in these outlets. “Although some of the industry has developed in terms of fruit juice, there are many that have not and so this is what Pago is aiming to do,” says Harwood. “Traditionally the outlets that we are selling to would have offered Britvic and Schweppes because that was all that was available. We've developed 13 products so that customers can now go into a bar and have whatever flavour they want ñ anything we can do to raise the standard is good.”
It's not just a wider choice that has spurred the market on. Pago has operated in the UK for the last five years, but as a brand has been in existence for 60 years and is well- known on the continent. As UK consumers become more continental in their lifestyle, says Harwood, the demand for fruit juice continues to expand.
“Despite the popular images displayed in the press of women drinking more than men, the real story is that our habits as a nation are changing,” he says. “Pubs are now open all day every day and they are selling very good food. Within pubs sales of soft drinks, coffee and water are rising. Spirit sales are declining and it is a fact that one in four consumers who go to pubs drink no alcohol at all.”
There is no shortage of new products for juice converts to try and better quality products have also had their part to play in the expansion of the sector. The popularity of orange juice, says Harwood is unlikely to decline in his lifetime, but new fruit juice mixes are still making their presence felt.
Currently targeting the UK and the Netherlands is Spanish fruit juice manufacturer Vitafresh, offering a vast range of frozen not from concentrate fruit juices. In 1kg plastic bottles, the range is additive-free and aimed at restaurants and fast-food outlets. Director of the company Pierre Thebauld recently told Foodnews that although European demand for frozen juice is shrinking, this only applies to concentrated products and that frozen juice is growing strongly.
In the fast-expanding UK market Frobishers Fruit Juices has launched a range of three smoothies in 25cl bottles that include fruit such as raspberry, guava, banana and peach. The company has enjoyed rapid expansion in the four and a half years since its inception and has recently introduced mixed fruit juices into the license trade in the form of an orange and mango blend, a raspberry and grape drink and an apple and cranberry mix.
“There's no doubt that everyone these days is concerned about healthy living,” says managing director Mike Dowdeswell. “And that is why juices have become so popular. There are no additives in our products and they also have a 12-month shelf-life.”
It can be difficult keeping up with such a vast array of products. “Every two years there is a new flavour,” he adds. “First it was cranberry, then it was passion fruit and now it is mango. There is bound to be something else that comes up but for the moment, mango is the most desirable fruit. It is easy to get hold of and has an excellent colour ñ that is very important in the juice market. That's one of the reasons we don't do pink grapefruit ñ because it ends up looking like dishwater. We give a shelf-life of 12 months to our products and they have to maintain their colour vibrancy throughout.”
With so many products filling the shelves it can be something of a squeeze to get ahead in the juicing game, but Harwood believes there are many committed consumers. “The same thing that happened in the wine industry has now occurred with juice,” he says. “20 years ago there was very little choice of wine but now the market is much more sophisticated and the same thing can now be said of juice. Four years ago there was a big push on Sunny Delight that was very successful because it gave people the idea that non-fizzy drinks were a good alternative to carbonated products. Now there is a generation of consumers who drink fruit juices which are now of premium quality.”
Orange juice might be the back-bone of the UK market, but, says Harwood, through Europe, the further south you go the more consumers enjoy soft fruits. “The UK loves orange and the Austrian preference is for apple,” he says, “while in eastern Europe they like blackcurrant and blueberry. Italians favour peach, apricots and pear and Norwegians like orange, carrot and lemon. Generally speaking consumer preference comes from traditional associations with particular fruits.”
Harwood predicts that in the long term carbonated drinks will further lose their appeal. “Healthier products, just made from fruit juice and water will fulfill all that consumers want,” he says. “Now that we are more health conscious, fruit juice is a tremendous success.”
But are fruit juices as healthy as consumers generally believe?
“Cranberry is the product that everyone is talking about,” says Harwood. “We launched our cranberry drink in March this year and it is now our third best-selling juice ñ which is proof that our test marketing is correct. Although most people accept the health benefits of cranberry what they don't realise is that once sugar is added, most of the good that the product does is negated.”
Apple juice has increased in popularity in recent years, providing many growers with an outlet for surplus fruit. “The juicing business has been very successful in the past few years,' says Freda Cross from Ringden Farm. “We've started diversifying and producing a wider range of apple juices mixes including apple and rhubarb and apple and blackcurrant. The juice that we sell is very popular and the juicing side of the business is now taken over from selling the apples themselves. A lot of growers are turning to juicing because it is a lot easier to be succesful.”
“People turn to juicing because the market for anything less than a perfect apple is bad,” says Hill. “It's a way of turning produce into a useful commodity ñ growers are doing more of it, but it needs to be done well.
“Our business has been driveby demand and the challenge is getting the right product to the right people,” he says. “But we're innovative and we let our customers know about it.”
Whether it's oranges, apples or something more exotic the juice sector is understandably upbeat. As Hardwood says. “It is a very positive time. Fruit juice is working and it's a success.”
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