Don Simon Mango and Passionfruit Juice, 1.583 kg

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To counteract the downward trend in juice consumption, the industry is turning to new, innovative and sophisticated flavours and mixes. Efforts have focused on the NFC (not-from-concentrate) and smoothie sectors with fruit and vegetable mixes that are lower in sugar and the addition of functional ingredients. Find French juice processing, bottling and trading companies among the members of the French Juice Association (UNIJUS). Evaporation – different types of evaporation equipment are used to remove water from fruit juices. The most common types include the continuous flow of juice through several heated tubes under vacuum. As heat is used to evaporate water from juice, no additional pasteurisation is needed. Italy is another European country with its own significant production of citrus juices. However, Italy provides opportunities for developing country suppliers, as the country cannot produce enough for the local market and imports citrus juices (especially lemon) from other destinations. Also, Italy is a significant importer of pineapple and other tropical juices. Over the last 5 years, Italian imports of citrus and tropical juices increased at an average annual rate of 5%, reaching 74 thousand tonnes in 2020. According to ‘Financial Food’ (based on combined Nielsen and Kantar data), the consumption of fruit juices in Spain has continued to decrease despite the impact of COVID-19. The total volume of fruit juices and nectars sold in 2020 was estimated at 734 million litres. Fruit juices accounted for 41% of consumption, while the remaining 59% were nectars (with a 25-99% juice content). Orange juice is the most popular flavour with a share of around 36%, followed by pineapple with 26%. Other tropical fruits account for around 15%.

Opportunities for emerging suppliers can be found in selling citrus and tropical juices as ingredients for drinks manufacturers. British drinks producers are very innovative, experimenting with new and healthier solutions. For example, the United Kingdom is the largest European market for smoothies. Also, sales of NFC juices are increasing. Other innovations include juice shots (such as with turmeric or ginger) and drinks with functional ingredients (like vitamins, amino acids, kombucha, aloe and cannabidiol). Some of the leading suppliers of tropical juices as ingredients are Symrise (formerly Cobell, as Symrise acquired Cobell), Kenegrade and Gerald McDonald & Company. Consumption of organic citrus and tropical juices is increasing, following a general organic food growth trend. According to a report by the European Commission, the most imported organic juices in 2020 were from Mexico (21,500 tonnes), Turkey (18,900 tonnes), Brazil (4,900 tonnes) and Peru (1,200 tonnes). Citrus and tropical juices are also mixed with fruit and vegetable purees to create more attractive flavours in smoothies and other organic drinks. Vitamin C is already an established ingredient in juices and nectars, mostly because of its antioxidant properties. COVID-19 has contributed to the development of drinks with more added nutrients that can have a positive impact on the immune system. These drinks often use citrus and tropical juices as ingredients with added complex vitamins, minerals (especially zinc) and probiotics. The United Kingdom is the third-ranked importer of citrus and tropical juices in Europe, with a decreasing import trend until 2019. The average annual import decrease of this category of juices was 3% over the last 5 years. However, in 2020, partially due to the impact of COVID-19, the market started to recover. Imports of most juices increased, reaching 524 thousand tonnes. Orange juice accounts for more than 80% of the entire category. Strong import growth was also noted for NFC pineapple, concentrated orange, mandarin and lemon juices.

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British importers buy relatively small quantities of citrus and tropical juice directly from origin. They mostly import from other European suppliers. Spain is gaining a bigger share of the British market, with an annual export growth of 16%. García Carrión ­( Don Simon brand) is 1 of the leading Spanish suppliers to the British market. Aside from Brazil, the supply from developing countries is small, but some countries – such as the Philippines (coconut water and concentrated pineapple), Thailand (pineapple) and Mexico (lime) – are increasing their exports to the United Kingdom.

The recent outbreak of COVID-19 has contributed to the development of many immunity-boosting products, including juices. According to research by Mintel, the COVID-19 outbreak has prompted 45% of consumers in Europe to add more nutrients into their diet, while 29% has reported being more interested in foods that can support your immune system since the start of the pandemic. NFC and low-Brix orange juices are the most imported product of the entire category, representing more than half of total imports in quantity. NFC orange juice is a fast-growing category, with 8% average annual import growth since 2016. Tropical juices (not counting pineapple) show the largest import growth, increasing from 3.7 thousand tonnes in 2016 to 6.1 thousand tonnes in 2020. Significant quantities are imported indirectly via Austria from large traders such as Agrana or through the Austrian trade office of Brazilian processing giant Citrosuco GmbH. To find out more about general trends, read our study about Trends on the European Processed Fruit and Vegetables Market. Immunity-boosting and functional drinks The leading supplier of citrus and tropical juices to Italy is the Netherlands, with a 28% share. The Netherlands mainly supplies Italy with concentrated pineapple juice of Thai and Indonesian origin. Other strong European suppliers are Spain (mandarin and lemon juice) and Germany (mostly orange juice of Brazilian origin). Developing country suppliers gaining share on the Italian market are Brazil (concentrated orange), South Africa (concentrated orange and lemon), Bolivia (lemon), Egypt (mango), Mexico (lime) and the Philippines (concentrated pineapple).The total annual consumption of fruit juices and nectars in Italy is estimated at more than 600 million litres. Due to consumers’ sugar concerns, the consumption of juices has been decreasing since 2015, but this decline slowed down in 2020 under the influence of COVID-19. Consumption of smoothies and fruit-milk drinks is increasing. In the fruit juice category (not counting nectars), orange juice flavour accounts for around 30% (33 million litres), followed by pineapple (22%), tropical (19%) and grapefruit (12%). Organic juices have a market share of around 3.5% in volume. Generally, fruit juices are perceived as more natural than most soft drinks (such as carbonated drinks), so producers are innovating to make juices lower in calories. New low-calorie juices are appearing on the market, such as fruit and vegetable mixes, juices with coconut water and juices with an increased proportion of low-sugar fruit such as raspberry puree. Popularity of smoothies See our studies on coconut water, mango puree and pineapple juice to learn more about European markets for these specific juice industry products. Brazilian orange juice accounts for nearly 60% of citrus and tropical juice imports. The main reason for such large imports is the presence of Brazilian producing giants in Rotterdam – Cutrale (Continental Juice BV) and Louis Dreyfus. Also, the leading European processor and trader, Döhler, sells large quantities of juices through its Dutch representation (Doehler Holland BV). Examples of other Dutch traders of tropical and citrus juices are SVZ, Ariza (specialised in organic products), Prodalim, Verbruggen Juice Trading and Santos Enterprise Food. French imports of citrus and tropical juices decreased at an average annual rate of 2% between 2016 and 2020, reaching 771 thousand tonnes in 2020. Most imported citrus and tropical juices remain on the local market, as France’s re-export is insignificant. NFC and low-Brix orange juice account for 65% of all imports in the entire category. The import decrease is mainly due to a decrease in the import of orange juice with a Brix level between 20 and 67°, from 117 thousand tonnes in 2016 to 46 thousand tonnes in 2020 due to a general decrease in consumption.

Germany is the largest juice market in Europe, with a very strong and increasing offer of organic juices. However, apple juice is more popular than citrus and tropical flavours. German imports of citrus and tropical juices have increased at an average annual rate of 2% over the last 5 years, reaching 590 thousand tonnes in 2020. Most of these imported juices are used for domestic consumption, but large quantities are also exported to other European countries, with France and the United Kingdom being the main markets. Retail sales of fruit juices and nectars in the Netherlands decreased from 335 thousand litres in 2011 to 169 thousand litres in 2019. Under the influence of COVID-19, sales increased again in 2020 to 175 thousand litres. Mixed flavour juices and nectars are the most popular in the Netherlands, accounting for 45%, followed by orange flavour (27%). Tropical juices are popular ingredients among Dutch producers of mixed flavour juices. Those mixed flavour juices are usually labelled with names such as ‘ Tropisch/Tropical’, ‘ Exotisch/Exotic’ or ‘ Multivitamine’/’Multivitamin’ and contain some proportion of citrus and tropical juices.

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Due to consumers’ concerns about sugar and calories, British consumption of juices decreased until 2019, but it increased in 2020. According to the British Soft Drinks Association, consumption of juices including smoothies and coconut water reached 930 million litres. Citrus and tropical juices make up more than two-thirds of this amount. The most popular flavour is orange with a 63.3% market share in 2020, while pineapple accounts for 3.5%. In nectars, tropical flavours account for a market share of around 4%. Cawood claimed economies of scale – it is the second-biggest juice producer in Europe and has long-term contracts with more than 30,000 farmers – gave it the ability to undercut Innocent. It added that it planned a “strong calendar” of price promotions. The smoothie market has been dominated by one brand and prices have been ruthlessly high,” said Richard Cawood, marketing manager at Don Simon owner J Garcia Carrión. Germany, being the largest European organic market, is especially attractive for organic juices. For example, 31% of lemons sold in Germany (often used for lemonade) are organic according to a Biofach 2020 presentation. According to the German Juice Association, orange flavour accounts for 1 quarter of the retail sales of juices and nectars. The real share of consumption is larger (more than one-third), as it includes additional quantities in freshly squeezed oranges, smoothies and other drinks. Citrus and tropical juices are very popular ingredients in juice mixes with the addition of vitamins, called multi-vitamin juices. Their use as an ingredient in smoothies, functional drinks and flavoured waters is also increasing fast.