Despite the vitamin benefits of fruit, especially in winter, and the healthy trend to reduce (or even eliminate) added sugars for the benefit of fruit pulp, the fruit juice market in Italy is not experiencing a positive season. And, even more surprisingly, not even a booming business such as Bio has benefited from the "healthy" wave: fruit juices have indeed recorded a positive growth rate (+7% in volume, +2,8% in value, Iri data, at Oct. 2019), but the quotas have not yet reached such percentages as to move the real critical mass. With 3,6% in volume and 8,5% in value, we are in fact far from the other main European markets, where organic volumes are on average higher, such as in Switzerland and Austria, where the share has time 10%.
In general, the fruit juice market appears to be stalled: also in 2019, in fact, the numbers showed the 'minus' sign in value (-3,4% for 703,3 million euros collected) and in volume (-3% for 580,2 million litres). It is still too early to tell if we are talking about a long-term trend or a trend dictated by the food and lifestyle trends of the moment, but in fact, as is already the case for other worlds of free beverage alcohol, the health sector is configured as the most relevant segment in recent years, on which to focus to get back on top. In fact, the attention of the consumer towards the aspects is growing nutritional, functional and healthy fruit juices and nectars, increasingly valued with a careful look at the ingredients list.
Origin, variety of raw materials, production methods and sustainability are the main purchasing drivers. While nectars and similar (35% of total market volumes) lose ground in terms of value (-6,3%) and volume (-5,1%), Uht juices and smoothies, albeit a small niche (together they make up about 2% of volumes), show a certain dynamism. The growth in value and volume of these last two segments are the most significant in the sector: respectively +6,5% in value and +9,7% in volume for juices and +6,5% in value and +12,6 % by volume for smoothies. They also go hand in hand with the phenomenon of reducing sugars, certainly interconnected with the sugar tax talk the high quantity of fruit in the recipes and/or the inclusion of health-friendly ingredients: ginger, aloe, goji berries, blueberries and other superfoods. In fact, many new product launches follow these guidelines.
