SMOOTHIES: Smoothie Factory, the leading US retailer of real fruit smoothies, has introduced a line of 12 all-natural fresh juices. The new juices come in a 16-ounce re-sealable bottle and are fewer than 230 calories per serving.

Made with high quality ingredients and innovative produce combinations Craig Erlich, president of Smoothie Holdings, LLC., said “Consumer demand for nutritious snack and meal options are continually growing as we all become more aware of what we put into our bodies. Smoothie Factory has had a long-standing commitment to health-focused smoothies made with real fruit and vegetable ingredients and a menu line-up that offers many options to customize and optimize flavor profiles to a wide variety of nutritional, goals from body building to weight loss. The juice program is a natural extension created to offer the best nutritional values to customers wanting to live a healthier lifestyle.”  Source: QSRmagazine.com

COLDPRESS: The leading high-pressured processed (HPP) juices drinks brand will take its HPP expertise into the soft drinks market with the launch of a range of ‘stripped back soft drinks’ made with sparkling water. Two flavours will initially be available, one being strawberry, apple and watermelon and the other raspberry, pineapple, apple and pear.

Coldpress founder Andrew Gibb said: “It hasn’t been easy sitting on the sidelines, knowing that the common sense thinking we’ve fostered in premium juices could also ignite a significant soft drinks category reboot. Watermelons, pineapples, strawberries and pears are all refreshing and flavourful ingredients that we believe will benefit more from a discreet sparkling water backdrop than having their hard-earned taste notes and nutritional goodness boiled off by traditional pasteurisation techniques.”

HPP retains the nutrition profile of fruit juices by sterilising them at a lower temperature. Source: FoodBev Media

USA: As the Institute celebrates its 100th anniversary, administrators are full of praise for the long established relationship between the research teams with the Citrus Research and Education Centre and the Florida Department of Citrus in bringing healthy, nutritious fruit and fruit juice to the consumer.

“Housing the FDOC and CREC scientists at the same location has brought together the expertise needed to address any issue facing the Florida citrus industry, from the field to the grocery store shelf, and everywhere in between,” said Michael Rogers, director of the Citrus REC. “We’ve had a long and productive history working together to support the Florida citrus industry and continue to do so, as we are both working together to develop solutions for citrus greening disease.” Source: Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS), University of Florida.

INDIA. Ocean Spray – the marketing cooperative of cranberry farmers in the US and Canada and the world’s top cranberry producer – is looking to move into the Indian market to promote the benefits of cranberry as a natural remedy for urinary tract infections and stomach ulcers following the growing rates of urinary tract infections in the country.

The Ocean Spray chairman Peter Povitar Dhillon, after a recent trip to India, said: “We went to India to explore opportunities of doing business there. As a global company, we recognise the huge potential of the Indian marketplace. India has the fastest growing middle class and it is the world’s youngest country in terms of the age of its people. It was a very positive trip. Now we are thinking about the best ways to educate Indians about the unique benefits of cranberry,”  Source: Fresh Plaza