• 15 Jul
    No fruit juice for children under 12 months states new AAP guidelines  

    No fruit juice for children under 12 months states new AAP guidelines  

    USA: According to a new policy statement issued by the American Academy of Paediatrics (AAP), fruit juice offers “no nutritional benefit” to children under the age of one year. The AAP writes that fruit juice with sugary content is contributing to the increase in the rate of obesity and issues about dental health.

    “Parents may perceive fruit juice as healthy, but it is not a good substitute for fresh fruit and just packs in more sugar and calories,” said Dr. Melvin B. Heyman, co-author of the statement. “Small amounts in moderation are fine for older kids, but are absolutely unnecessary for children under one.”

    Source: AAP/Consumer Affairs

    By Caroline Calder News
  • 15 Jul
    Aiming for 100% sustainable juice by 2030 – the clock is ticking 

    Aiming for 100% sustainable juice by 2030 – the clock is ticking 

    Back in March this year leading European beverage and food companies joined forces and formed a coalition aiming for 100% sustainable juice and puree by 2030. Under the coordination of IDH, the Sustainable Trade Initiative – the companies Döhler,  FrieslandCampina Riedel,  Refresco  and Verbruggen Juice Trading Sustainable Products b.v., signed a global covenant targeting 100% verified sustainable sourcing for their juices within the next decade. With the support of AIJN, the European Fruit Juice Association, they have agreed to work on the certification and verification of their supply chains as well as addressing specific sustainability issues.

    As part of the commitment, the companies’ progress towards 100% sustainability will be monitored by an independent third party, based on a common definition on sustainability criteria (including SAI FSA and SMETA based principle). In 2018, the companies are committed to having 15% of their volume sourced sustainably, rising to 30% in 2020, 75% in 2025 and to then have 100% volume sourced sustainably in 2030.

    Photo Bernd IsenbergSome of the immediate next steps for the coalition is to get the annual process monitoring in place, setting pre-competitive projects in the field and to develop an activity plan for the first year.

    Here Bernd Isenberg from IDH talks to Fruit Juice Focus about how it all started, what the challenges are and how the fruit juice industry and the consumers will benefit in years to come.

    Fruit Juice Focus (FJF) Can you give us some background to IDH and how it operates as a champion for sustainability?

    Bernd Isenberg  IDH (BI): IDH (the Sustainable Trade Initiative) accelerates and up-scales sustainable trade. Established back in 2009 by the Dutch government, we build impact-oriented coalitions of private sector organisations, civil society organisations, governments and other stakeholders with the aim of helping to improve the sustainability of international supply chains. By bringing together public and private interests, and utilising their strengths and industry knowledge, the IDH programmes are aimed at making sustainability the new norm. IDH has experience in more than 15 sectors including cotton, tea, fruit and vegetables, and other crops.

    With a 105 M euro match funding grant from the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, IDH organises scoping, development and implementation of public private, precompetitive market transformation programmes. The IDH investments in market transformation programs are match funded by private companies.

    We work with leading multinational companies, governments and civil society to bring about real, practical and measurable sustainability objectives that help reduce poverty, safeguard the environment and foster fair and transparent trade.

    We basically bring everybody involved around the table in the sector specific landscapes and jointly develop a sustainability agenda for that industry drawing from the sustainability issues involved in the various supply chains.

    FJF: How did the IDH get involved with the fruit juice sector?

    BIThe Juice Covenant is something that was set up very recently – it was started in March this year. It came off the back of another closely related sector that we are already working in which is the sustainability initiative for fresh fruit and vegetables (SIFAV2020) which was launched in 2012 and now has more than 40 members. The aim of this project is to ensure that members make their imports of fruits and vegetables from Africa, Asia and South America 100% sustainable in 2020 – quite an ambition!

    Interestingly the juice programme is a little bit of an exception because they don’t only focus on produce from developing countries but produce that is sourced globally no matter where it is coming from.

    Since the above initiative has been very well received by the industry and by the participating companies and organisations there has been quite some demand for setting up something similar for processed fruits and vegetables and also for juices.  At the beginning of last year (2016) we were approached by certain AIJN (European Fruit Juice Association) member companies who were asking us whether we could set up something similar for the juice sector.

    We started having discussions with two companies to see how we could make that work in practice resulting in the covenant which the first four members signed up to when we launched in 2017.

    Since then we have two more companies that have joined the group (Frutco AG and V&K Pineapple Canning) and one major organisation – The Rainforest Alliance who has also signed up to the covenant. The group is slowly growing.  We are looking to expand further and are very much focused now on getting more participants on board and at the same time validating the process that will enable companies to track their progress towards the target for 100% sustainable juice in 2030.

    Although the initial companies signed up are European based they all have a global footprint and going forward we expect more companies outside of Europe to get involved as has been proven with the signing up of the Thai company mentioned above.

    FJF: How many companies would you need to ensure the initiative has major penetration across the industry?

    BI: Our target for 2017 is to have 10 companies on board by the end of the year. When you are looking at the type and size of companies that are joining, like Refresco and Dohler for example, we will be getting quite far already in terms of market share with those 10 companies. Then in the next few years we will expect to grow to about 20 or 30 companies – maybe even reach 40, but we can’t expect everyone to join the covenant. It’s really the companies that are serious about their responsibilities and who want to carve out a space for themselves in sustainability who are going to go for this.

    FJF: How does the covenant work? Is it a legally binding agreement?

    BI:  The companies have a moral obligation – not a legal one. They signed up to commit themselves to fulfilling the aim of becoming 100% sustainable juice providers by 2030.

    FJF: How do you at IDH monitor and benchmark progress by the participating companies towards the 100% sustainable juice by 2030 objective and how do you communicate this?

    BI: We don’t communicate with the group about any individual company’s progress. This is confidential to them but we do communicate with the group as a whole by publishing aggregated averages across all the different areas we are working on.

    Together with members of the Covenant we set up projects to address specific sustainability issues such as smallholder inclusion, working conditions, responsible agrochemical management, and climate resilience.

    The companies are monitored by a third party on their progress towards the target and there will be intermediate targets as well. For example the first one will be 15% in 2018 and then the company will get feedback by the monitoring organisation showing where they stand and how to make progress towards the 100% target.

    FJF: Does each participating company have a specific person or department set up to work with the monitoring company and IDH?

    BI: Very often it is the procurement teams but it can also be their sustainability departments so it depends a bit on the company as to who is in touch with us and the monitoring team.

    FJF: 2030 is quite a long way off – after that date will there be continued monitoring to make sure companies are still maintaining these standards?

    BI: This is a difficult question as it is so far away. We are having those discussions now for the fresh fruit and vegetables covenant which is up in 2020 and there the intention is definitely to keep on measuring so we would imagine that there would be similar process with the juice initiative

    FJF: You say that firms don’t talk to each other about their progress but talk instead to the monitoring company or IDH. Do they have more formal meetings or platforms to exchange ideas on progress going forward?

    BI: We do. First of all the steering committee meets regularly – four times per year – ready to give this programme a strategic direction and also to get behind the workings of the field level projects that we are going to implement. Next to that there is also the general assembly which is going to take place once per year which is also aimed at being a learning platform where companies can exchange theory and case studies with each other on how to improve on their share of sustainable sourcing.

    FJF: Are you flushing out elements of the supply chain that are below the required standards that will lose business because of the initiative?

    BI: We are not ourselves analysing specific parts of the supply chain to see what the sustainability issues are. But what we have done is commission the WWF to develop a digital map of  60 sustainability hotspots in the processed fruits and vegetables sector. So for example you could click on Ecuador bananas and then you would see what specifically the risks are for sourcing bananas for processing in Ecuador. You can see what the social, environmental and economic sustainability is for this hotspot and compare risks associated with this source.

    We make this hotspot map accessible to the members of this covenant, and jointly develop issue mitigation projects to address the identified risks.

    FJF: Were there any pressures from consumers that prompted this initiative?

    BI: Yes there was and still is pressure from the consumers. The companies that have signed up for the covenant so far are not retailers so they don’t have a direct link with the consumer but they have recognised the opportunities arising from this pressure on the retailers who are their customers.

    The companies that are working together with us now are often approached by their clients that say ‘we want you to sell more sustainable juice to us’, but they don’t provide a clear direction on the definition of sustainability. This is why it is very important and commendable that the juice industry has taken the initiative into its own hands the process being facilitated by IDH which is an internationally recognised and credible organisation, together with the industry body the AIJN and others organisations.

    We are agreeing on a definition of sustainability that should become the norm for the industry. This gives the companies a clear proposition and message to retail and also to the end consumer on how we as an industry are jointly tackling sustainability.

    FJF: How have IDH and the AIJN collaborated on this project

    BI: The AIJN has been very much involved in the sustainable juice initiative from the very beginning. They have endorsed the covenant as one of the ways for companies to put the AIJN code of business conduct into action. Equally they do make it clear that they can’t prescribe it as the only way for members to become sustainable and that it is one of several options toward sustainability. AIJN have been actively participating in our steering committee meetings as advisors. The AIJN is also providing part of the funding that is necessary to run the Covenant secretariat.

    We also make use of the AIJN as a platform to provide the covenant with ongoing support and promotion. The Juice Summit in Antwerp this October will feature presentations on sustainable juice at the main event and at the CSR side-stream. We did the same last year and the AIJN has been very instrumental in getting this initiative known by the industry.

    We anticipate more companies signing up  and even though the 2030 objective for companies to be 100% sustainable may seem a long way off, the sooner they join the covenant and get started the better for the fruit juice industry and for the consumers.

    For more information on the sustainable juice initiative and how your company may benefit from joining please contact Bernd at isenberg@idhtrade.org, or Elske at stevenson@idhtrade.org or visit www.idhsustainabletrade.com

    By Caroline Calder Features
  • 15 Jul
    A record line-up for drinktec 2017

    A record line-up for drinktec 2017

    Drinktec, which is expecting record participation figures in its 60-year history, boasts of being the world´s leading process technology trade fair for the beverage, fruit juice and liquid food industry, and the biggest global gathering of this sector—a kind of world summit. From small, family-owned firms to global players, anyone who has anything to say in the sector will be at drinktec this September.

    The trade fair, which takes place at the Messe München exhibition centre in Munich will take up 14 exhibition halls, covering a total of 150,000 square metres of space and will run from September 11 to 25, 2017 attracting around 1,600 exhibitors and 70,000 visitors with two-thirds of these visitors expected to come from outside Germany.

    The entire process chain is represented by companies exhibiting at drinktec this year including process technology, containers and packing materials, filling and packaging technology, raw materials and ingredients through to process automation, energy systems and PET technology.

    drinktec is “an absolute must” for fruit juice manufacturers

    drinktec has traditionally been a trade fair of innovations and world premieres. It is where the future is made, especially when it comes to manufacturing solutions that are gentle to the products and flexible process control.

    Modern process technology in beverage and fruit juice production is the intelligent interaction of individual components and systems and is a key factor in meeting consumers’ needs for quality, pleasure, variety and health benefits on the one hand and to give manufacturers innovation that allows them to work economically and flexibly and conserves resources on the other. Exhibitors will present the latest product solutions that strike that balance.

    Elaborate process technology makes it possible to gently process raw materials under production conditions that have been optimised for hygiene. Processes such as micro and ultrafiltration ensure higher nutritional values—which has an immediately noticeable positive impact on consumers’ health. After all, when it comes to beverage consumption, there is a growing focus on health aspects. This also includes the separate handling of juice and fruit pieces in process technology when dealing with extremely healthy and flavourful juices. It starts with product handling and continues until the bottling process. This is a good example of systematic thinking, which must cover each and every aspect of beverage production and is showcased by the all-encompassing range of exhibits at drinktec.

    Process technology will be addressed at the exhibitors’ stands as well as in the fair’s supporting programme. This includes the drinktec Forum, where leading experts from research and practice will make presentations that examine the industry’s future questions and take a look at the “bigger picture”. Process-technology specialists will also find the exhibition sector on “New Beverage Concepts” in Hall B1 interesting. The marketplace will allow manufacturers to introduce their latest sweetener, colouring and aroma strategies.

    Klaus Heitlinger, Managing Director of the Association of the German Fruit Juice Industry, is convinced: “drinktec is an absolute must for fruit juice manufacturers. Technical innovations for processing and bottling fruit juices are presented there for the first time. I’m talking about important processes such as high-pressure pasteurisation or customised single-bottle printing. In short: anyone who wants to see the latest developments in process technology must go to drinktec!”

    Resource conservation and efficiency

    So, when it comes to process technology, what will await visitors at drinktec this year?

    “The efficient use of resources is a must in beverage production. Whether it comes to water, energy or other media used in the production process, the choice of process technology determines resource consumption, and each and every component used can contribute to that,” explains Richard Clemens, Managing Director of the Food Processing and Packaging Machinery Association in the German Engineering Federation (VDMA).

    The solutions that manufacturers of process technology for non-alcoholic beverages, juice and water have on display at drinktec include entire plants as well as individual units – for example, sugar infeed and processing, de-aeration installations, carbonation plants and pre-mixers as well as containers, tanks and chilling, heating and heat-maintenance plants. Other focal points include components for process technology as well as installations for measurement recording, pumps, fittings, pipelines and pigging systems. Microbiologically safe production calls for variable cleaning concepts that are implemented by introducing various CIP systems. This also includes choosing the right type of water treatment. Should it be reverse osmosis, ultrafiltration or media filtration? These are questions that can be answered in discussions with the exhibitors.

    “And, of course, when it comes to the composition of new products, efficiency becomes the focus when rapidly converting production processes,” emphasises Richard Clemens. “Automatic recipe management with a continuous flow of information and a link to process control can ensure highly automated processes and efficient production control—regardless of which ingredients are used in which product. drinktec 2017 will give trade visitors a compact and concentrated look at the entire range of possibilities.”

    Highlights from the supporting programme
    Special Area New Beverage Concepts, Hall B1: In a special exhibition area in Hall B1 manufacturers of sweeteners, colourants, ingredients, additives and flavourings, treatment agents and recipes will be presenting their new products and solutions. The “Special Area” has an open and interactive design. Product developers, brand managers as well as marketers and buyers will be able to try out new ingredients and beverage concepts at the bar, and also search the flavour providers for new ideas.

    Innovation Flow Lounge (IFL): Following its highly successful premiere in 2013, the IFL will be continued in 2017, but with a new concept: leading experts will discuss the topical themes of importance for the future of the industry in the areas of product innovation, packaging and marketing. IFL and the Special Area New Beverage Concepts will have a joint space at the show, so that topics from the area of new beverage concepts, such as beverage ingredients and ideas, are also addressed and dealt with in the IFL.

    For more information on drinktec 2017 go to: www.drinktec.com

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    By Caroline Calder Features
  • 15 Jul
    Frutarom – A passion for taste and health 

    Frutarom – A passion for taste and health 

    With four key acquisitions in the flavours and ingredients sector completed already this year, Frutarom is making impressive strides towards its target of USD2Billion in sales by 2020.  As a global supplier to the Fruit Juice, beverages and food industries, Frutarom is one of the fastest growing producers of flavours and fine ingredients and ranks as one of the top 10 companies in its field worldwide.

    Maintaining production facilities in North and South America, Europe, Asia and Africa, the company provides more than 60,000 products to over 28,000 customers spanning the globe in more than 150 countries in the food and beverages, flavour and fragrance extracts, pharmaceutical, nutraceutical, health food, functional food, food additives and cosmetics industries.

    The successful implementation of Frutarom’s strategy of augmenting profitable organic growth with accretive acquisitions has led to sales growing at an average annual rate of 18% since 2000.

    When first established in 1933 Frutarom was one of the earliest industrial enterprises in Israel. Its origins lie in the desire to produce flavour and fragrance ingredients based on local agricultural produce, in particular citrus products.

    Here Ori Yehudai, President and CEO of Frutarom, talks to Fruit Juice Focus on some of the background to this amazing growth and why he is proud that the company still adheres to its founding principles.

    Fruit Juice Focus (FJF):  Frutarom was established over 80 years ago, what were the ideals of the company upon inception and have those ideals and objectives changed since then?

    Ori Yehudai, Frutarom (OY): That is a very interesting question. Frutarom was founded with the aim of combining the cultivation of aromatic plants and flowers with the extraction and distillation of flavours, fine ingredients and essential oils in order to extract natural raw materials primarily for taste but also for health applications.

    The company’s foundation was promoted by Professor Haim Weizman, the first President of the State of Israel and a well-known chemist.

    I love the idea that what we are doing today is very much what the company was doing back then in the early days. Mostly using mother-nature in order to produce and extract natural ingredients out of the earth. Nowadays we are not necessarily the growers but operate very much as a collective of growers all around the world whose aim is to get the right ingredients and natural raw materials which we need in order to produce the products for our customers. Today 75% of these products are natural, and the proportion of natural products has continued to grow very rapidly over the last few years.  As part of our strategy we put a great deal of importance in maintaining a strong internal research and development department that collaborates with universities and start-ups and many of the acquisitions we have made are to strengthen our position as one of the leading players in the natural products, natural ingredients, natural extraction, natural essential oils marketplace. One of our central aims is always where possible to replace synthetic ingredients with natural ingredients (such as natural colours, natural anti-oxidants to replace artificial preservatives) that we have produced. So if you go back through our history there is a continuation that we are proud of.

    FJF: Replacing the synthetics with the naturals – good for your green credentials and a great selling point?

    OY: That’s very true and that’s part of the strategy. Around 10 years ago when we were looking at what is the differentiation between Frutarom and its competitors, one of the most important ideas was to focus on natural products and on solutions that will replace synthetic ingredients and will allow millions of consumers the options of selecting products with more natural ingredients and less synthetic ingredients. With the trends in juices to move towards healthier and sugar free products this has proved to be a sound strategy.

    FJF: Frutarom has made over 20 acquisitions in the past two years in line with the company’s growth objectives for 2020. Operationally this must be a huge undertaking to manage. How has the company been structured to ensure the successful integration of all those companies involved?

    OY: The second leg of our growth strategy has been to combine internal growth – which is double the rate of that in the food industry globally – and strategic acquisition. We have made 61 acquisitions in the last 20 years and indeed 23 of them in the last two years and 32 in the last five years. As you say this is a huge rate of expansion and acquisition by any company’s standards.  Frutarom today as a global company has very strong management teams in all the relevant regions and managers that are very experienced at managing product lines. We don’t necessarily do many acquisitions in the same territory or the same product lines which means there are different managers that are managing the integration processes of the acquisitions that we are acquiring. They come from the region and from the business that they were involved with as far as each specific acquisition is concerned.

    In today’s world we continue to see a consolidation process that has been going on globally for maybe 60 years. Consolidation between the big boys is already done but there are still about 800 small flavours companies in the world and around 400 in the area of natural ingredients so we have a very strong pipeline for additional acquisition. This will allow us to double in size every four years – which we have been able to do in the last 30 years that I have been in the business – and jumping to the target of USD2billion before the year 2020. This rate of growth calls for continuation of organic growth and acquisition of revenues of around USD150million a year. If you look at the last three years we have been growing internally above average market growth rate and  there has been approx. USD220 million in revenue acquisitions per year so at the moment our 2020 target doesn’t look like such a challenging target as it did.

    FJF: Apart from natural ingredients and small flavours are there any other markets you are looking to get into or are Frutarom sticking to their core markets? 

    OY: Frutarom is not a single solutions company like some of our large competitors. We are not looking to move away from our core markets. We see ourselves more as a provider of combinations of taste and health solutions for sectors we work with such as the fruit juice and food industry.  For instance, we would develop savoury solutions for regular meals that includes not only the flavour but also the natural antioxidant, the natural colour and the functionality that the customer requires as an ingredient. Another example would be creating a solution relating to a beverage paste. Fine ingredients is around 20% of total sales of Frutarom, which relates to 700 different raw materials that we are producing, most of them are natural products  that are based on flavours or health ingredients for natural colour or antioxidants.

    We are structured in such a way that under one roof in any one territory we can make the right solutions that our customers need.  You have to bear in mind that the majority of our business is with smaller and mid-size customers who in the last two years are growing faster than some of the bigger companies. These customers need the full solutions options much more than the big companies. They are typically niche and require solutions that Frutarom provides in the natural products sector that other larger competitors will not be able to produce because of the technology involved or because of their limited product portfolios.

    FJF: Has the expansion of the Frutarom research and development capabilities seen a marked increase in innovative new products being developed for your customers in the fruit juice industry? And can you tell us more about these developments? 

    OY: It’s not so much new types of products – it’s more about new solutions that consumers want to see with less sugar, less calories, the natural solutions back in the fruit juice drinks, to ensure good taste and to improve on what we have got to make it more acceptable to consumers based on what they want.

    For example, in the citrus industry natural sweeteners with zero calories and the excellent taste at affordable price are now becoming a very important part of today’s world. Consumers and the industry are very interested to move towards these natural solutions but the natural products are not always affordable because prices are much much higher than the synthetic ones. Part of Frutarom’s vision, more so in the last year, is to go back into collaboration with growers and farmers and to work to improve our yields and our cost structure to enable us to provide the solutions at a price that is acceptable to our customers.

    Then we would be in the position with this type of natural sweet enhancer for example to be able to offer the product at an affordable price allowing both very large beverage companies and the smaller companies to be able to use these solutions.

    FJF: What future trends do you predict for the fruit juice industry?

    OY: We predict more and more consolidation between the juice manufacturers. For Frutarom part of the challenge is how to partner with the fruit juice processors to be able to continue to deliver more and more natural raw materials for taste and for health purposes.

    By Caroline Calder Features
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