Refresco, the world’s largest independent bottler for retailers and A-brands in Europe and North America, announce it has entered into an agreement to acquire HANSA-HEEMANN. This transaction is subject to regulatory approval.

HANSA-HEEMANN, headquartered in Rellingen, Germany, is a family-owned, independent beverage manufacturer with five production sites spread across Germany. The vast majority of HANSA-HEEMANN’s volume (60%) is in mineral water, with the remaining 40% of its volume in carbonated soft drinks (CSD). HANSA-HEEMANN serves three different market segments: private label, own brands, and contract manufacturing for A-brands. HANSA-HEEMANN employs over 800 people with an annual revenue of approximately EUR300 million.

Water is the largest category within the non-alcoholic beverage market. The landscape is highly competitive and rapidly changing with many smaller local and regional players who maintain a strong foothold. Branded players with a wide range of water products are looking for opportunities to grow with retail discounters. In addition, the focus on sustainability continues resulting in for example, increased demand for recycled PET and reduction in operational carbon footprint. Refresco

For most months during the 2020-21 Florida citrus season, oranges did not meet the federal minimum standard of 10.5 degrees Brix for NFC OJ according to a slide shown during Florida Citrus Mutual’s recent annual meeting, the average Brix level for oranges during the season was 10.45. Brix is a measure of the sugar content of juice. Consequently, Mutual, the state-wide grower association, will lead an effort to have the federal Food and Drug Administration temporarily suspend enforcement of the minimum Brix level. The low Brix levels were not the only concern during the past citrus season. Mutual CEO Mike Sparks reported there were increased imports of Mexican OJ in 2020-21. He said Mutual will continue to monitor those imports and other trade issues “for any improprieties.”

Sparks also had good things to report about the season. He said US Department of Agriculture purchases of OJ totalled USD132 million, and that US OJ sales skyrocketed during the COVID-19 pandemic. He said there have been improvements to the federal H-2A program which allows the use of seasonal temporary workers. The vast majority of Florida citrus is harvested by H-2A workers.

Florida Legislature appropriated more than USD32 million for a variety of citrus programs in Florida. One of the programs funded by the Legislature is the Citrus Research and Field Trial (CRAFT) program. CRAFT Executive Director Kristen Carlson reported that the program has funded 106 projects in 15 Florida counties. CRAFT offers growers financial incentives to plant new trees that will be produced using specific HLB mitigation strategies. “The most important measure of success (in the CRAFT program) will be the fruit production reported by the grower,” Carlson said.  CitrusIndustry

The Spanish citrus sector is monitoring the final approval of the EU-Mercosur agreement, which is still pending its final ratification for environmental reasons. Companies, cooperatives, and agricultural organizations are worried about this change in the rules of the game between the European bloc and the bloc formed by Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, Venezuela, and Bolivia (the latter country is in the process of joining), as they fear the South American citrus will invade the European continent; especially the citrus from Brazil, the world’s leading orange producer –a fruit that accounts for 90% of Brazil’s citrus cultivation– and a very powerful country in the orange juice industry.

“The agreement would liberalize citrus juice imports into the EU, particularly of 100% squeezed juice, which could lead to the disappearance of the European juice industry, consequently unbalancing the fresh market and strangling the European citrus-producing sector,” stated the president of the Citrus Management Committee (CGC), Inmaculada Sanfeliu.

Spain transforms around 1.3 million tonnes of citrus fruit into juice each year. Brazil is the second-biggest producer of oranges in the world, with a production of up to 20 million tonnes. It exports over 1 billion euro in orange juice to the EU a year.

Sanfeliu has warned that the EU-Mercosur agreement threatens the value chain of the orange sector. He also said that these minimum prices will constitute an attack against the profitability of the Spanish sector. The Spanish citrus industry -a sector that has been affected for years by the EU trade agreements with South Africa, Egypt, Morocco, and Turkey- has not been taken into account in the negotiations. Levante-emv