Features

  • 14 Sep
    The future of Passion Fruit consumption

    The future of Passion Fruit consumption

    Passion Fruit

    Over the past 25 years, Quicornac has evolved from being a small scale passion fruit producer to a thriving, high capacity multinational shipping passion fruit and mango NFC and concentrate to over 32 countries around the world. What’s next for passion fruit?  Harry Frei, Executive at Quicornac and Ricardo Merino, Commercial Manager talks to FJF to tell us more about this unique flavored fruit.

    Passion for the fruit

    Passion fruit has two things that stand out from the rest: Its name – passion and its taste. Adding a little passion to your life mixed with a flavour that is both tropical and intense, are the two things that stand out the most, say the company. A taste so unique, no other fruit provides the same level of experience. It has to be one the tastiest, most experience-rich flavour there is. It’s the perfume of fruits. There are also added nutritional benefits of the fruit besides its taste.

    Functional benefits

    Passion fruit has great added benefits with a healthful nutritional profile. It contains high levels of Vitamin A, which is important for skin, vision, and the immune system, and vitamin C, which is an important antioxidant. Passion fruit is rich in antioxidants, which are compounds that help to mop up harmful free radicals in the body.

    Antioxidants play a vital role in keeping the body systems healthy. Scientists know that antioxidants improve blood flow, specifically to the brain and nervous system. Passion fruit has also a low glycemic index (GI) value. This means that it does not cause a steep increase in blood sugar after consuming it, making it a good option for people with diabetes. Passion fruit is loaded with heart-healthy potassium and is also low in sodium. Passion fruit is rich in magnesium, an important mineral that scientists have linked with decreased stress and anxiety. There is so much to love about this fruit.

    Our growers make the difference

    “Like in any fruit, quality comes from the fields, says Harry Frei. “We have a team of agronomists whose sole purpose is to teach farmers how to produce the right quality. This means from selecting the best seed or seedlings, to harvesting in a safe and dedicated manner. While passion fruit is a robust fruit once picked, it needs to arrive to our processing locations as quickly as possible to preserve the best aroma and juice properties.”

    Market opportunities

    The most significant markets for passion fruit products, are currently the EU, USA, and some parts of Asia. “We see a solid urgency of demand in Asia as locals begin familiarizing with the fruit.”Ricardo Merino reports.

    “It is difficult to pinpoint exact market size, but we estimate a total export market between 22.000 to 25.000 MT of 50 brix equivalent. This includes converted NFC which should account to around a third of the total market. The market size refers to known exports from main producing areas such as Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Vietnam. There is also a strong local consumption which accounts to juice products that stays in the country of origin, for example in Brazil, Colombia, China, Peru and Vietnam that does not show in the export statistics.”

    Increasing demand

    “We estimate the demand has been rising over the last 20 years at a rate of 2-3 % per annum. Biggest swings up or down have been due to supply/demand and crop cycles, which has been traditionally variable over the last 10 years or so however, as new producing regions like Peru have begun to produce in larger quantities, and now recently Vietnam.

    “Since then, the price has stabilized in a much narrower trading range and has helped the demand pick up. We believe that the trading range will be even narrower in the coming years as there are multiple origins that can produce passion fruit.” Comments Ricardo Merino.
    Keeping pace

    “All the work has been in promoting farmers and helping them produce more, “says Harry Frei. “We all know that adding capacity or setting up a new processing site is relatively easy, but having control of the fruit supply is key.

    “90% of our work evolves around our farmers network; constantly promoting the crop, helping them with new farming techniques and provide them with better seed. The fresh local consumption has also helped as farmers net higher prices from the local market.

    “They now average much better returns than in the past, in fact most farmers today take better care of their plantations and are motivated to continue producing more in areas where local consumption is solid. This is the case of Peru where we estimate that more than 30% of the fruit stays local. In Ecuador, most of the fruit goes to factories so producers traditionally get a lower average return.

    “But there are other conditions that favour Ecuadorean producers such as shorter distances, excellent soil conditions, crops all year, plenty of water for irrigation and good demand from producing factories all year long. Ecuador still produces the best tasting passion fruit and more reliable supply than any other region in our opinion.”
    A great source of pride

    Harry Frei comments “We continually adjust our production lines to produce the best of juice, at the lowest possible impact. Many of the equipment we own given our vast experience have been tailored made and designed in our shops to treat the delicate passionfruit. We have, since 1989, leading not just the production and the export of passion fruit, but also lead the promotion of passion fruit juice worldwide.

    “We are proud to see many of the biggest juice companies using passion fruit in their product range today. And not just juice. There are plenty of other food applications where you can find passion fruit in. This process was not easy, took us years, traveling and lots of investment to continue expanding both our farmers and customer base. Even to this day.”
    What makes us unique

    “We are focused on one fruit: Passion fruit. While we also have mango because many of our farmers also produce this fruit nearby, passion fruit is what we are known and proud for, says Ricardo Merino. “While obviously the market for passion fruit is much smaller that say, mango, we pride ourselves to be the leader in this niche, and as we say, we prefer to be the mouse head than the lion’s tail.”
    What does the future hold

    Harry Frei comments “Besides the traditional markets, launching new products every year with passion fruit, we see Asia as a new potential market. Their local production of passion fruit is helping fuel local demand and also, they are also starting to like the taste for the fruit a lot. It is not uncommon now to see street vendors selling a refreshing passion fruit juice alongside local dishes in many parts of Cambodia, China, Laos, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam.

    “The USA is also a big market to keep an eye on, as more Latino influence boost the consumption of passion fruit. It is key however that the fresh fruit demand also grows (fruit imported from other countries), so that the fruit becomes more of a staple rather than an exotic garnish or occasional treat.”

     

    Keeping customers happy

    “We need to make sure we produce on time and deliver our goods to our customers as promised. While certainly we work with our existing customer base providing them with timely information about crop cycles and pricing, we also look for each country main juice producing companies and work hand in hand, first with their R&D department, comments Ricardo Merino
    Sustainability credentials

    “Since 1989, we have been focusing on sustainability”, comments Harry Frei. “Every day we support our Ecuadorian and Peruvian farmers providing them with technical support and the promise of buying their crop. Our technicians give them access to qualified advice and drive them to be more efficient at their fields.

    “Since 2015 we have carried out SMETA audits in both of our factories, focusing our sustainable strategy on ethical trade, responsible sourcing, health, security and environmental compliance. And since 2020, we have started our sustainability program on farms. Our aim is to achieve 10% of our passionfruit production under FSA Bronze level by 2021. This sustainability assessment contributes to farmers’ economic viability as well as environmental and social compliance. Every year, we raise the bar.”
    Challenges of the Covid-19 year

    “We have always focused on the human pillar and during this pandemic our commitment was no different,“ comments Harry Frei. “Since the beginning, we provided protective personal equipment and sanitization materials to our people. We have also implemented safety procedures for everyone attending to our process facilities. As for our fruit suppliers, we have maintained our early-payment policy; giving them stability to continue in business. Additionally, we have contributed with donations to our local communities to help them cover basic needs.

    “The pandemic has affected our supply chain in many ways. While the Ecuadorian and the Peruvian governments have restricted circulation, and created multiple mobility requirements across many sectors, we have come out strong by following local laws and guidelines, working alongside with our fruit suppliers and transportation. To this date, more than 95% of our fruit supply chain has returned to pre-covid times.
    “We have learned a lot. No matter how important is how we conduct business, it’s all boils down to people. Luckily, technology has been helpful in bridging this gap. Imagine if we would have just a facsimile like in the old days. Today, we can say, we are more than ever closer to our farmers and customers. Technology and pandemic have definitely changed our working practices in several aspects. This allowed us to be more efficient with our time and resources,” Ricardo Merino concludes.

    Quicornac

    Almost 30 years of growth fuelled with quality products, product innovations, and investment in new technologies has positioned Quicornac as a leader in the juice raw material processing industry. Founded in 1989, the company is a privately held company headquartered in Guayaquil, Ecuador, and employing around  500 people in Ecuador and Peru.

     

    By Caroline Calder Features
  • 14 Sep
    Juice and alcohol/alternatives 

    Juice and alcohol/alternatives 

    Redefining juice

    Today people want to be productive and at the same time feel healthy and well – not just physically, also mentally. Diet plays a crucial role in this. It is obvious that juice today is much more than just a thirst quencher. Gerd Diefenthäler, Innovation & Market Intelligence Manager for Austria Juice reports.

    While health and wellbeing have never been as high on the list of values of global consumers as they are today, the hit list of drinks has also changed dramatically in recent years. Not long ago, for example, beer, wine, champagne, sparkling wine, cocktails and long drinks were simply a part of enjoying parties, private celebrations and relaxing evenings at home.

    Today, alcoholic drinks are increasingly replaced by alcohol-free or at least alcohol-reduced alternatives. ‘Mocktails’, for example, are the non-alcoholic successors to cocktails – and juices made from a wide variety of fruits and berries are the main players in their preparation.

    But that’s not all, consumers all over the world are not only looking for healthy ‘free from’-drinks, but also for drinks that actively promote their health. Today they search for holistic solutions that help them to change their lifestyle in all areas of life. The ingredients in food and drinks should be natural and ideally organic, the production sustainable, the taste unique and surprising with the ‘wow effect’, the value for the body or mind should be targeted and clear. Juices play an important role with their flavours and valuable ingredients.

    Mixed juice drinks for relaxation and concentration

    There is enormous potential in juices, smoothies and mixed drinks made from juices with teas or functional water for holistically improving health and meeting the needs of modern consumers. The demand for products like this is increasing worldwide: According to the market research institute Mintel, 40% of adults in Chile and Australia state that their diet should also raise their energy level – in India 49% share this opinion. Worldwide, 52% of consumers are interested in products that help reduce stress. 45% have changed their diet with the aim of improving their sleep, especially since sleep problems are becoming more and more common due to the increasing occurrence of stress, depression and anxiety.

    Herbs and herbal ingredients are said to effect health clearly: 60% of consumers worldwide are of the opinion that botanicals have a positive effect on their health. This is why the use of juices in combination with ingredients such as chamomile, lavender or hops, which improve sleep and relaxation, is increasing in the development of beverages in the functional drinks category.

    The addition of B vitamins, adaptogens and nootropic substances promotes concentration and alertness and antioxidants help detoxify.

    Stand out ingredients

    The rising stars of beverage ingredients include adaptogens, which are natural substances that help the body to adapt to increased stressful situations without having an overstimulating effect. CBD, turmeric, ginseng, rose root and ashwagandha are certainly the best-known examples that are more and more finding their way into the recipes of beverage manufacturers.

    Juice drinks strengthen the immune system and eye health

    Since COVID-19, strengthening the immune system has also climbed the list of priorities of consumers. Therefore citrus and berry juices come into focus because of their high vitamin C- and antioxidant content. Likewise, consumers demand for fast, nutrient-rich food and beverage solutions, which are available in the form of clean label juice shots, is also increasing.

    Since people nowadays usually spend several hours in front of different kinds of screens, – professionally and privately alike – the attention towards eye health is rising: Vitamin A, zinc, riboflavin or DHA can be added to juices to specifically promote eye health. Carrot juice is also suitable here because it contributes to a healthy lifestyle and supports eye health with vitamin A naturally.

    Hydration with less fruit juice content but full flavour

    For the participants of a worldwide survey by Mintel, ‘healthy’ means – among other things – that food contains no artificial ingredients and little fat, that they are a good source of vitamins and minerals and convince with low calories and a high fiber content. As a result, soft drinks with a high water content and a lower juice content continue to have potential on the market due to lower calories and the valuable ingredients of juice.

    Additionally, sugar reduced juice concentrates come into play in nowadays beverage developments, too. The new success-factor for beverages and juices are also (new) taste experiences.

    ‘Taste Experience’ is a current megatrend that is impressively shaping the world of the food and beverage industry. It’s about pure consumer experiences, about taking the consumer on an adventure triggered by sensory, visual and haptic experiences. Unusual, spicy or exotic flavour combinations, which especially in times of COVID-19 and travel restrictions conjure a bit of travel-flavour into the glass at home, ensure new taste adventures. The possibilities for using fruit and vegetable juices are therefore diverse – in terms of taste and concept.

    New beverage concepts require know-how

    The development of new beverage concepts, especially with the use of fruit and vegetable juices, brings also challenges that require appropriate market knowledge and extensive know-how for the exact matching of ingredients. Products with fruit juice often have a complex product matrix. They contain e.g. water, fruit juice, sugar, aroma, coloring foods, vitamins, edible acids, stabilizers, etc. – and even the smallest adjustments to the dosage of an ingredient can make the difference between a completely unstable product or perfect product stability. For example, it is important to prevent flocculation, cloudiness, sedimentation or rapid product aging in terms of taste. Depending on the ingredient, external influences such as temperature or UV radiation must also be taken into account.

    Stabilizing the drinks is crucial

    In the case of alcoholic beverages such as mixed beer beverages, cider or hard seltzer, the interaction of the alcoholic base such as beer, cider and fermented glucose with fruit juice makes it difficult to stabilize the drink. Roughly, the following applies here: the higher the alcohol content, the higher the risk of flocculation. Low alcohol contents of up to 2.5% ABV are often not a major problem. Stabilizations above that are also possible.

    Long-term reproducibility also plays an important role for all industrially produced beverages. The standardization of the raw materials is essential, so that the juices are expertly blended from different qualities after the harvest in order to guarantee the consumer a consistent quality.

    At Austria Juice the know-how is bundled in one source – from market research to the beverage concept, from fruit growing to the finished recipe and ingredient supply. In this way we offer our customers the best possible support for their diverse projects.

    By Caroline Calder Features
  • 13 Jul
    Poland – It’s more than just apples

    Poland – It’s more than just apples

    Cultivated and wild, from forests or plantations, new and old, traditional and modern varieties, you’ll find it all in Poland. From sweet strawberries, to tarty cherries, crunchy apples, delicate raspberries, purple blueberries, this country in the middle of Europe with broad assortment of fruits, provides for consumers across the world. Mateusz Świętanowski Concentrates, IQF & Puree Sales Manager at Quadrum Foods in Poland tells us more.

    Cultivation know-how, often passed from generation to generation, climate and soil conditions,  result in vast volumes of fruits grown and harvested, being made available in various forms and shapes as concentrated and NFC juices, frozen, fresh and processed into other products.

    Crop to crop, each year producers, processors, suppliers and buyers face similar challenges. Even though those remain similar each time, magnitude of every factor will differ between product and impact it shall bring upon the outcome to the market.

    Weather, as always, plays a massive role. We’ve observed in 2020 very clearly, how a prolonged dry period can affect plant development in early stages as well as the damage large rainfall (as it was in May), will lead to poor quality of strawberries. Some producers did not expect grey mould (botrytis) to pose a problem this year, leaving their plantations without required plant protection spraying for the disease. Lower yield of fruit is not necessarily compensated by lower price of raw material.

    Looking at strawberry juice concentrate, its clear that prices are not very far away 2019 compared to 2020, yet quality definitely has dropped. Uncertainty is only increased with a typical Poland cold snap, which may lead to even 10°C temperature drop in 24 hours. This phenomenon falls on the  1st half of May, with typically 12th, 13th, 14th and 15th of May being the peak time.

    The cold snap is called in humorous fashion ‘Cold Gardeners’ and ‘Cold Sophie’ – after patron saints of those 4 days, it is also referred to as: Eisheiligen in Germany, Saints de glace in France, Ijsheiligen in Holland and Poscana Zofka in Slovenia. Everyone who is anyone in regards to apple juice concentrate, remembers very well 2017 when frost damage in early May, led to an unusually small apple crop and very high price for AJC. Counteraction possibilities are somewhat limited and often expensive. Quadrum Foods` advantage are ample stocks from previous crop as well as long term conrtacts with suppliers, enabling deliveries to cover demand in the transition period between the two harvests.

    Information chaos is almost as serious a factor, as weather. Estimation of volume of fruits stored after harvest is finished, usually is a combination of wishful thinking, guessing, trying to influence market to the advantage of buyer or seller respectively. The amount of raw material available is commonly incorrect and often by far. Disorganised system of creating a stable supply chain versus loyalty of farmers/producer, makes the daily production amount uncertain at best. Price at ramp delivered changes by the hour, having great impact on finished product offer. ‘Subject to final confirmation’ truly becomes yet another substantial factor, not to be ignored by industry. Our company brings that value added market insight to the table. Daily and hourly updates from plantations, fields and orchards as well as production information in regards to yield, quality and volumes, directly translates into advantage passed onto our customers.

    Difference between short term sale targets and long term cooperation might be overlooked as important aspect of price development. Quick and easy prompt loadings, helping cash flow are specifically targeted by smaller companies. Concentrate/NFC production requires huge investments not only into facilities, but every year, with short harvest period, vast sums of money have to be ‘pumped into’ and ‘frozen’ into the product, with potential revenue coming back to processors with substantial delay. Long term contracts are required by majority of clients, increasing finance and storage cost for the product owner. Bank loans and credits are usually more expensive in Poland then in EU. Financial stability due to product and client diversification, allows Quadrum Foods to manage funding of raw material purchasing as well as processing and storage, limiting the risk to customers.
    Year 2020 is yet another which brought us something new…..again. This time it affected our private lives as well as professional matters. Widespread problems caused by the COVID-19 pandemic only added to the typical worries faced every year. Poland went into lockdown of proportions unknown previously by many of its citizens. This very difficult period of time, demonstrated how fragile our well-structured lives actually are. That very description applied to many countries globally and exposed problems, some of which were swept under the carpet for some time before.  We were fortunate, production facilities across the country have been kept open and running, even if with somewhat limited staff and operations. Transport has been kept running, moving goods within the country, EU and worldwide. Whilst doctors, nurses and various emergency services did their utmost and best, to keep people alive, food industry did their part in keeping store shelves full, warehouses stocked up. Various sections of the economy suffered and surely the full impact will only be known in time to come. But being in food industry seems to be the one of the crucial activities for the country.  Most of employees at Quadrum Foods have been working remotely, quickly adapting to the new environment and conditions. We’ve kept the business running, keeping it as close as possible to normal activities.

    At the time of press, we are around one month away from the new apple crop. With high expectations from producers and demand from clients, we are looking for yet another interesting, intensive, high-stake game of price war between all parties involved. Fairly mild effect of ‘Cold Sophie’ this year, rested trees from 2019s rather limited crop, so should bring a bullish harvest and price level allowing massive sale amounts. Or is there yet another surprise ahead for all of us….

     Mateusz Świętanowski is the Concentrates, IQF & Puree Sales Manager, Quadrum Foods, Kraków, Poland

     

     

     

    By Caroline Calder Features
  • 13 Jul
    Citrus oils and by-products – A current market overview

    Citrus oils and by-products – A current market overview

    There are many things that can be said about the citrus oil industry. Being stable is certainly not one of them, Geva Adut, CEO of Trisun comments for FJF

    After the high rise in prices two years ago (mainly for grapefruit products but not only) and the significant decline a year ago, prices seem to have stabilized and even started to bounce back up.

    Orange oil and its derivatives (D-Limonene and Terpenes)

    The demand for orange oil remains high while future production is expected to be lower than last year. Prices are dictated mainly by the Brazilian market and because the crop in Brazil is estimated to be smaller this year compared to last crop, it seems that the supply of oil and Terpenes/D-Limonene will be lower as well.

    Mexico and other markets are also forecasting lower crops compared to last year, and therefore prices are projected to increase. In fact an increase in CPOO price is already happening, we see offers in the market at price level of 5-6 Usd/kg, and this represents an increase of 2-3 Usd/kg compared to last year’s prices. We also see offers at price level of 3.5-4.5 of Usd/kg for D-Limonene/Terpenes, depending on the application and quality.

    Lemon oil

    After significant price decline, there is a trend shift and prices have slowly started to go up early 2020. Crops are expected to be lower for Lemon in most markets. Argentina expects a reduction of about 10% compared to last crop while in Spain the trees were hit after the blossoming stage and forecast is for reduction of in yield compared to last year. This, together with constant demand, is pushing slowly but constantly the price up.

    Red grapefruit oil

    The excess supply in the market is decreasing and there are indications that the price is starting to stabilize. We see offers in the market around 12-15 Usd/kg, depending on the pesticide levels and general quality/Nootkatone level.

    White grapefruit oil

    The price is stable. Volume continues to be limited. Unfortunately, this trend may continue in the future.

    Sweetie (A hybrid of Pomelo and White-Grapefruit)

    This citrus cultivar grows almost exclusively in Israel, and therefore its supply is limited. Yet, the demand is rising. The world of perfumes and beauty industry seem to discover the unique characteristics of this oil, which are in a way similar to white grapefruit oil, but with a twist of freshness to it.

    (Note: We have not included lime, mandarin/tangerine in the scope of this article, nor other by-products such as oil-phase, folded oils, distilled oils, naringin).

    Organic certified oils

    The demand for all organic citrus oils is rising. Orange and lemon organic oils are in high demand, above all, white organic grapefruit stands out because of the limited supply of this trade.

    Regulation

    REACH in Europe is a major challenge especially when selling oils to the fragrance market (REACH is only valid for non-food). The dominant suppliers in the market have registered products for REACH but most processors are not compliant with this regulation as they are focused on the food industry. We believe that this is an interesting market and processors that will put emphasis on this direction will increase the number of their customers.

    Pesticides

    The new regulations banning various pesticides (especially the recent ban of chlorpyrifos and chlorpyrus-methyl which are now banned in Europe and the United States) cause difficulties to sell significant volumes of the oils produced.

    As it was published in a few global official articles, there is evidence that this issue is starting to affect not only the oils/by-products market but also the juice segment and there were news about some cases in which big volumes of juice were shipped back to processors after finding the pesticide level exceeded the threshold.

    We believe that in the future there will be no choice but to deal more seriously and deeply with the pesticides issue, especially in mutual cooperation programs with the farmers/agriculture side.

    To conclude, in general, the oils and by-products market is mostly in a Bull market (a Rising market if to use analogy from the stock exchange market). We don’t see this trend changing in the near future. We will not be surprised if prices will go even higher in some segments.

    Prices mentioned in this piece are relevant for the time of writing this article – June   

    2020, and are based solely on Author’s opinion and knowledge. The above is not a recommendation in any way to buy or sell any product. The author’s company may have specific position in some products. Trisun is global producer and supplier of raw materials for the Food, Cosmetics and  F&F industries, with focus on Citrus oils and by-products.

     

     

    By Caroline Calder Features
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