• 11 Nov
    Powerful flavour trends

    Powerful flavour trends

    Functional flavours

    There is a vast array of incredible flavours out there, but shifting through the possibilities can feel like a minefield. Here, leading global ingredients manufacturer Treatt, explores the different trends in a COVID climate, and how juice producers can use flavours to find their niche in a changing world.

    The power of trends

    Working in the flavour industry is a craft that requires us to be a master of many trades. From botanical science and biochemistry, to supply chain management and understanding consumer behaviour, success in the sector requires the right team and the right investment, to ensure we can meet customer demand.

    Some are surprised to learn that the industry as a whole invests around 10% of its turnover into research and development (R&D). It’s a worthwhile endeavour – as a business we need to be agile, and brimming with constant creativity and innovation. Our customers trust us to be able to help them tap into the zeitgeist with flavours that deliver and will help their NPD fly.

    Critical as it is, taste cannot be relied on alone to achieve success. Trends can dictate any number of product credentials. Sustainability, for example, is no longer an optional nice-to-have. A study of 20,000 consumers in five countries revealed that one in three purchase products with sustainability in mind. We anticipate this trend will continue increasing at an unprecedented pace.

    Changing consumer demands around the world

    Inevitably, the effect of COVID-19 will leave its mark. Health and wellness was already extremely high on consumer agenda and the pandemic has fuelled further growth.

    Consumers are seeking comfort and familiarity from products and this has seen a resurgence in demand for traditional beverages. Health conscious consumers continue to seek out products with perceived health benefits such as immunity boosting, and the increased demand for citrus juices is one such example of the direct effect of this.

    As consumers wise-up to the health effects and sustainability of the products they are consuming, the breadth of products and variations of flavourings becomes ever wider. This is an extremely fast-changing process, with a need to not only keep up with the trends, but also be ahead of the next big thing. Beverages battling juices for space on shelf include nitro beverages and seltzers, which can fulfil many consumer needs.

    USA

    A tricky market, where consumers are forgoing juice for flavoured waters and iced coffees. Health is absolutely critical and consumers are seeking clean label beverages with natural flavourings from fruits, vegetables and herbs. Pear, lychee and lemon are the fastest growing flavours in this region.

    Functional energy drinks in the US are expecting sales to reach USD32 billion by 2025 – accounting for nearly 40% of the US market. Caffeinated fruit juice is a key trend within this that we can expect to see growing over the course of the next few years, with drinks providing not only functional health benefits but also the wake-up kick from the caffeination.

    UK

    Since the UK introduced the Soft Drinks Industry Levy – a tax on high sugar soft drinks – there has been an inevitable rise in the sugar-free or low-sugar beverage offerings from brands in the UK, putting pressure on naturally sugary juices, currently exempt from the legislation. This legal push marries with consumer demand for healthier beverages.

    Juices can overcome these challenges by providing functional beverages which answer other needs with perceived benefits, such as immune system boosting through antioxidants or ingredients which could aid stress relief.

    Caramel, melon and grape are the three big growing flavours in this market. Other key consumer drivers in this territory are good sustainability credentials and a rise in demand for vegan products.

    Europe

    2020 has seen a growing number of functional lines being introduced to the European market. The functional beverage market in Europe is projected to see a 6.5% growth between 2020 and 2025, a trend which has only been strengthened by the pandemic. As consumers are making more health-conscious decisions, and companies are taking measures to adapt their products to demand, this category is set to grow.

    In the near future for Europe, we will see an increase in the consumption of natural flavours, allowing nutrient-dense ingredients to dominate the European market.

    Keep an eye out for sugar cane, blue curacao and citron, which are leading the pack as Europe’s fastest growing flavours.

    Asia-Pacific

    Historically a strong region for the juice market, the emerging ‘middle-class’ have recently been consuming more on-the-go RTD beverages, with coffee and energy drinks increasingly popular, as consumers seek a caffeine buzz to keep up with their busy lives. The fastest growing flavours in APAC are bubble gum, cactus and yuzu.

    Supply

    COVID has seen businesses adapt to new working practices, including enforcing social distancing and working with reduced labour forces. Growers and processors are navigating similarly dramatic shifts in the fresh fruit markets. Many ports have been closed and ships unable to dock, heavily impacting the global supply chain.

    We have steadied our ship thanks to the strong relationships with our suppliers, and ensured an unwavering continuity of supply chain.

    With the shut-down of the food service sector, we’ve seen more fresh lemon fruit become available for processing. Demand in ginger has spiked as consumers seek ways to improve general health. Our High Impact Chemicals (HICs) continue to play an important role in meeting demand for products designed to be free from ingredients people can be allergic or intolerant to. New HICs hitting the market are providing creative flavours that provide an authentic taste profile. Our 5-Methyl-2-thiophenecarboxaldehyde provides sweet, almond, nutty, cherry and bready notes at 5ppm in formulations.

    While the pace of change can be daunting, there remains ample opportunities for fruit juice brands willing to create products which hit that consumer sweet spot.

    Visit Treatt.com to find out how we can help.

     

     

    By Caroline Calder Features
  • 11 Nov
    Trade opportunities in juice

    Trade opportunities in juice

    When opportunity knocks . . .

    A UK Essex-based drink supplier that was founded over a century ago has secured a deal to sell its organic fruit juices to Japanese businesses through to April 2021. This latest Japanese deal was secured after the Department for International Trade (DIT) assisted the company to attend trade shows and meetings in Japan, where it met new customers.

    In 2016, Gerald McDonald opened an office in Kobe and DIT is currently providing advice on trademark registration in the country. Marketing Director at Gerald McDonald, Maxim McDonald said We are proud to be a British family business and to keep the legacy of my great-grandfather going. Japan has been our biggest exporting step; it is an exciting market and our future focus. It is going to be big for our business and we are in the process of developing our website for future online sales in Japan.”

    UK Secretary of State for International Trade Liz Truss commented: “The trade deal we signed with Japan was a historic moment and will offer tariff-free trade on 99% of UK exports to Japan, creating new opportunities for people in the East of England and helping level up the whole country.

    Gerald McDonald was originally founded by spice trader Gerald McDonald in 1917, its main customers were in the UK, back when spices were still very exotic products for the British consumer. Following the Second World War, the company was granted a government licence for the importation of bulk fruit juices, as there was a huge government drive to get children consuming more minerals and vitamins which they were lacking. This is how we started in juices and concentrates.

    A major milestone came in 2000, comments Maxim, moving from London to Basildon, in order to set up their own warehouse and blending facilities. “We realised we could not stay competitive as just a trading company in the City.”

    Roll on to today and the self-named business is now managed by his grandson Gerald and great-grandson Maxim. From its headquarters in Basildon, UK, the juices are exported to over 20 countries, with international sales accounting for 20% of Gerald McDonald’s £27 million average turnover. Gerald McDonald also exports its popular Japanese Yuzu juice outside of Japan and creates bespoke juice mixes at its headquartered blending facility.

    So how did the Japanese contract come about, we asked Maxim McDonald?

    “The DIT supported us in Japan with travel and tradeshow funding. In Japan it is crucial to be present and active in the market in order to gain respect, so this was a huge help for us.

    Japan has always been a fascinating country to me, so different yet so similar in certain ways. For food and drink it’s one of the most exciting countries in the world with a strong national cuisine but also with a great appreciation of other food cultures. Japanese consumers are incredibly adventurous which leads to a very exciting drink market…where else would you find a pancake flavour drink?!”

    What have been the biggest challenges of late?

    “No doubt Covid-19 has been problematic due to the uncertainty, but also Brexit in terms of stockpiling. We hope for a deal with the EU, but now we have measures in place to ensure that exports/imports will continue running smoothly whatever the outcome.

    “Despite the pandemic, the organic market is growing again, and we have strong connections to organic citrus growers which places us in a good position to offer ingredients to food and drink manufacturers.

    “We have a large portfolio of fruit concentrates, NFCs, purees and essential oils that we hold in stock. We have no MOQs and so are very flexible with volumes. At our onsite blending facility we make compounds, aseptic products and repack into small or large units.

    “Covid has affected everyone in food and drink as customers eating and drinking habits have markedly changed and we have to try and adapt to this. We obviously have to keep production going while also maintaining a safe environment for our workers, but staff who can, do work from home. Fortunately, all our processes have been coping and working fine.”

    “I believe the more free trade agreements countries can have, the better, easier and more competitive business will be, which in the end should benefit customers. We want to excel at customer service and be as flexible as possible – our customers have enough to worry about selling their own products.”

    What product developments are you most proud of?

    “Not all NPD leads to success as its very trial and error, but we have created some very interesting and great tasting blends for customers, and it is always very satisfying after spending a long time with a client creating and working on a new drink to see it come to fruition. “

    Tell us about Yuzu juice and what makes it special

    “It is a Japanese citrus with a very interesting and complex taste- like a cross between a lemon, mandarin and grapefruit. The juice we offer retains 100% of the essential oil which gives it a really powerful depth. It’s a very important product for the company as we look at new markets.”

    So what next for the company?

    “We are looking for partners and agents we can work with in other regions such as the Middle East, Africa and Asia where we know we have something to offer. If you’re interested in working with us, do get in touch.”

    By Caroline Calder Features
  • 11 Nov
    Sustainable juice production in Guatemala

    Sustainable juice production in Guatemala

    Sustainability 

    Popoyán Modern Agriculture Model: A Proven Sustainable Approach for Creating Prosperity for Rural Communities in Guatemala 

    Popoyán´s theory of change is centered round developing high productivity and resilient projects, which integrate the agricultural value chain under a cluster solutions model. With it, Popoyán connects our high-performance production model to high-value markets generating prosperity for all those participating in the value chain. These projects have been a means for positive impact towards the stability of the regional food supply, while also generating sustainable employment and prosperity for the surrounding communities with which good relations have been sustained since the beginning of operations. Within Popoyán’s theory of change, agroindustry plays a key role to scale up production and accelerate shared value implementation.

    Popoyán has different business units that provide solutions for every step of the agricultural process – nursery, ag-inputs distribution, biological solutions that act as an alternative way to manage plant pests and diseases, commercialization of fruits and vegetables, centers for research and technology transfer, production farms, processing plants for fruit juice and purée. Our shared value accelerator projects represent our efforts to accelerate the achievement of our long-term goals to create value for the organization, its workers, and the smallholder farmers and the communities who are our partners. Through our model, we can reach prosperity in communities within an average of three to four years what otherwise could be accomplished in ten years.

    This shared value business model is private-led and integrates social-economic results as part of the core business at par with financial, operational, and market goals. It is divided into two pillars; the first one in our farms, where we produce MD2-pineapple, papaya, avocado, tomatoes, bell peppers, and a variety of berries for the international and local fresh markets. Farms integrate solutions to social needs through new business using technical expertise, knowledge, and a culture of innovation.

    Popoyan works with employees and their families to improve health and education and implement sustainable operations wherever we work with more than 7,000 people directly benefitting. Our collaborators’ growth is fundamental to shared success and our programs cooperate with our workers to build adequate housing, earn educational degrees, allow access to preventive healthcare and other services.

    Part of the long-term strategy to increase the development effect towards more people in Guatemalan communities surrounding our farms is to increase the scalability of our operations to generate more employment and a more sustainable impact. Agricultural industrialization was the approach that Popoyán took to achieve growth in the production area, and through its Tukan Foods business unit has invested in a processing plant for MD2 pineapple, papaya, mango, and passion fruit, in organic and baby food qualities to access high-value markets around the world.

    The second pillar is being implemented in the most vulnerable communities of Guatemala, where most of the smallholder farmers are located. Smallholder farmers represent an important market segment for the ag-input distribution business unit of Popoyán, and our Shared Value strategy invests in the development of the smallholder farmers to increase their yields and improve the quality of the different fresh produce that is sold in markets increasing their value. Popoyán is replicating its lessons learned from the first pillar scaling them to be applicable by the smallholder farmer of Guatemala.

    With private funds alone, our approach can reach a limited number of people in time, however, by partnering with different foreign cooperation counterparts to create public-private partnerships we can scale-up and accelerate our shared value. In the last seven years, we have been able to expand our reach to more than 50,000 people and their families benefiting directly. Our public-private partnerships have been a first of its kind and aim to reduce poverty and chronic malnutrition in Guatemala through an innovative and validated approach using economic corridors that strategically align market opportunities with existing and potential production, logistic routes, climates, altitudes, micro, and macro watersheds and address the vulnerability of chronic malnutrition.

    Popoyán has invested in four Centers for Rural Technological Development, that strategically connect economic corridors and serve as technology transfer centers for different agriculture technologies. These centers will also serve as collection centers for consolidating produce delivered from vulnerable areas and will include processing facilities for different crops that have demand in the juicing industry, to reach the desired impact in rural communities.

    Prosperous communities include not only people’s well-being but also the conservation of the surrounding natural reserves and wildlife. Our integral approach towards rural development takes into consideration the preservation of the environment as a transversal axis among all of our projects. In both implementation strategies of our shared value, we use environmentally friendly production methods, conservation of unexploited jungle and wildlife, watershed management, and efficient and sustainable use of resources. This involves not only the physical work being done but also encouraging behavior change among the inhabitants of the communities using continuous education and knowledge transfer to move towards a more sustainable country. Popoyán dedicates 50% of its territory as a natural reserve, crop management technology has allowed to increase production yields, to produce more in the same amount of land available.

    Agricultural industrialization, specifically for juice, pulp, and purée processes has allowed Popoyán to access and diversify to markets around the world. This was the next logical step that Popoyán needed to take as a company to scale up production and create more employment. Popoyán´s agroindustry, combined with the fresh produce production operations made it possible to increase positive impact in the most needed areas of Guatemala.

     

    By Caroline Calder Features
  • 29 Sep
    Serbia – A burst of flavours from every corner

    Serbia – A burst of flavours from every corner

     

    Juice specialist Remer Lane reports for FJF on the world of juice according to Serbia with insights into the unique fruits and flavours that make for award-winning juices.

    Friday morning, August 28, 2020, I turned the cap on the Life Premium Sour Cherry Juice. The aroma of the Oblacinska Cherry immediately stimulated a memory that carried me 17-years back in time to Serbia. I was sitting in a cafe on Lake Palic in Subotica. There, over 4 bottles of an exceptional Pannonian dry white wine, I outlined a strategy, debated, challenged, and cajoled the CEO of Fresh & Co Juice company to put Raspberries in a bottle. Within 3-years Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling had acquired the company. Over the three preceding years, that 100% Raspberry Juice had been awarded the World’s Most Innovative Juice at the World Juice Conference in 2004 and millions of bottles were in stores and cafes across Europe and in the US.

    Next Juice was a synonym for a vibrancy of change and innovation sweeping the former Yugoslav Republic, and the re-opening of a hidden market of amazing fruits bred exclusively to produce some of the world’s finest juices. The Willamette Raspberry, The Stanley Plum, the Oblacinska Cherry and Senga Sengana Strawberry are well known fruit varieties, offering the highest flavour, colour and dry matter solids over any other processing fruits. There is a reason Serbia is the largest exporter of frozen raspberries in the world.

    At the first taste, the burst of cherries overwhelmed my senses. The small particulates of fruit provided a texture as if fresh pressed in the kitchen. Naturalness truly represents the best a juice should be for all consumers.

    My reminiscing continued… It’s now 2008 and I’m hiking along the trails of Mt. Kaopanik in Southern Serbia. Vaso Lekic, a food purist for all that’s natural and healthy, has launched a new product line called Terra Organica. As we walk the surroundings of his processing plant, we can smell the smoke from grilling peppers that will soon be stripped and stewed into a delicacy of roasted red peppers spread called Ajvar. Vaso wants to do more and he believes the wild organic fruits of Southern Serbia offer some amazing potential. He casually picks a wild strawberry from the hillside and looks at me in wonderment. This is his next product.

    Without delay, he’s organized the local population surrounding the mountain to collect the fruit, preserve the environment and assure a future sustainable crop. The fruit was pressed in his mountainside kitchen and so was born Terra Organica’s Wild Strawberry Juice and Serbia’s second World Juice Innovation Award.

    Today, Serbia has the largest juice company in Southeastern Europe Nectar-Fructal with full vertical integration from field to consumer. There are up to 12 fruit juice processing plants in the country with exports exceeding USD50 million. Austria and Germany are the key importers by value with Raspberry, Sour Cherry and Apple as the leading exported concentrates with an expectation that Blueberry will soon be in the mix due to a significant surge in plantings. The juice this country produces is traditional, colourful and filled with flavour, it’s the naturalness and purity that truly represents what juice should be.

    I’ve just returned from my most recent visit to Serbia, two weeks of social distanced meetings and masks to learn more about the current state of industry in the country. I am further convinced that the quality of fruit that this small country produces is truly some of the finest in the world. Such a pleasant alternative to global politics and the pandemic.

    As I finish my Sour Cherry Juice, I wonder, is this the next winner? Will this Sour Cherry be the next to take home the recognition of being one of the best juices in the world? It is for me…

    Remer Lane is an international investment banker with Heritage Capital Group / Oaklins based in Savannah, GA. He has spent the last 35 years working with the food and juice industries playing a number or roles from field production to processing to offering a product to the final consumer.

     

     

     

    By Caroline Calder Features
1 2 3 4 5 11