News

  • 13 Mar
    UK – Juice consumption on the rise

    UK – Juice consumption on the rise

    The manufacture of fruit and vegetable juice was the fastest growing sub sector in the UK food industry, growing 17% from £654 million in 2017 to £768 million in 2018 – according to analysis of the latest ONS PRODCOM data by Santander.

    Research shows that more than half of people aged 16 to 24 consume juice drinks at least once a day. Consumption of smoothies has seen the biggest increase among all fruit juice drinks with Brits spending £112 million alone on these last year alone.

    Food and drink remained the largest UK manufacturing sector in 2018, reporting sales of £71.8 billion – a 3% increase on 2017. Overall UK manufacturing sales hit a record high of £390.1 billion in 2018 – an increase of £9.4 billion (2.5%) from the previous year.

    Andrew Williams, Head of Food & Drink Sector, Santander UK, said: “Food and drink manufacturing is vital to the health of the economy and the UK is widely seen as a global leader in product innovation. The last decade has seen the food and drink industry shaken up with huge shifts in consumer buying habits – from growing interest in veganism to juice and smoothie diets. Manufacturers are having to respond quicker than ever to develop new products to meet customer demand – a pattern which is likely to continue as Brits explore the latest food fads.”Santander

    By Caroline Calder News
  • 13 Mar
    US – Canines to the rescue on citrus greening

    US – Canines to the rescue on citrus greening

    Scientists in the United States are training dogs to detect a disease that is destroying the world’s orange trees. The devastating disease was first documented in Guangdong Province in southern China in the early 1900s. In Florida, where the disease emerged in 2005, it has caused a more than 70% drop in production of oranges. It has spread to Texas, California, Georgia and Louisiana and is threatening to wipe out the USD 3.35 billion US citrus industry.

    Early detection is vital; and farmers try to find and destroy infected trees as quickly as possible. However, it turns out that canines are much more adept than humans at identifying the sick trees.

    Paw patrol

    Plant epidemiologist Timothy Gottwald and colleagues at the US Horticultural Research Laboratory in Fort Pierce, Florida trained 20 dogs to sniff out Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus, the bacterium that causes HLB.

    Every time the dogs correctly identified the bacterium in a tree and sat down next to it, the researchers rewarded them with play time with a toy. The dogs were able to detect diseased trees with about 99% accuracy – within two weeks of infection, according to a paper published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

    By comparison, a DNA-based test – the only US Department of Agriculture-approved method for confirming the presence of HLB – detected less than 3% of infected trees at two months. Gottwald’s research suggests using sniffer dogs combined with removal of infected trees is the most effective way to suppress the spread of the disease, and would allow the US citrus industry to remain economically sustainable for another 10 years.

    By Caroline Calder News
  • 16 Jan
    Asia – Coconut Palm Group Co and fruit juice in Cambodia

    Asia – Coconut Palm Group Co and fruit juice in Cambodia

    Coconut Palm Group is planning to invest in coconut plantations and set up a factory in Cambodia to produce fruit juice, said its general manager Zhao Bo at a recent meeting with Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Veng Sakhon.

    The company is the biggest natural plant protein soft drink producer in China and specialises in processing tropical fruits such as coconuts. Sakhon said the ministry is pleased to support the company’s investments in Cambodia.

    “If we incorporate suitable growing techniques for producers, it will help to boost coconut production with high prices and good demand,” Sakhon said, adding that the ministry estimates that the company will need some 14,000ha for the plantation.

    “We need to study the demand for the nut and its market potential before establishing a natural juice factory to supply the domestic and international markets,” he said.

    Zhao said the Coconut Palm Group, located in Hainan, has annual revenues of USD400 million and uses 600,000 coconuts a day in its production. The company also employs 6,000 workers and exports its juices to 38 countries. Phnompenhpost

    By Caroline Calder News
  • 16 Jan
    Italy –Italian blood oranges – juice trade growth

    Italy –Italian blood oranges – juice trade growth

    Ortogel, was founded in 1978 by a citrus grower who built up a plant for the production of frozen vegetables in the industrial area of Caltagirone (Catania province). In 1982 Ortogel changed to the production of frozen natural citrus juice, especially for pigmented oranges, applying the cold and freezing technology, used for the frozen vegetables, to the citrus field, therefore obtaining natural juices, not from concentrated, without additives, and not pasteurisation, of high quality, never produced in Italy before on an industrial scale.

    Presenting at a recent Asia trade fair the outlook for Ortogel looks positive. The Chinese market in particular has identified Italy as a partner with an eye to sustainable production, high quality and food safety. Exports of Italian food products to China are seeing a double-digit growth and reached EUR439 million in 2018, a value that has almost tripled over the past 10 years (+254%).

    The Ortogel range includes juice from Blood Oranges, Blond Oranges, Tangerines, Lemons, Clementines and Grapefruit. The Blood Orange juice launched in Italy and abroad with the name ‘Gelidea.’Ortogel is leader producer of Private Label NFC Sicilian Citrus juice packed in gabletop/tetrapak

    Italian Private Label

     

    By Caroline Calder News
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