Plenty of juice left in global market

Global consumption of juice and nectars has risen steadily in recent years, fuelled by a healthy image. And producers have no intention of taking their foot off the gas, it seems, with a raft of product innovations planned to keep consumer interest high.

A new report from beverage industry analysts Canadean claims that while the 'good-for-you' effect is unlikely to dissipate for some time, juice and nectar producers are already looking for new ways of keeping the sales momentum going, in particular segmenting the market around product innovation, packaging and pack sizes.

North America is by far the biggest market for juice and nectars, accounting for over 35 per cent. But while the US is the biggest single market in pure volume terms, it is Canada and Germany which lead the rest of the pack when it comes to per capita consumption.

Total consumption in the US declined slightly in 2002 and is expected to have grown only modestly during 2003. In contrast, Canada's consumption has risen by more than 45 per cent since 1997, giving Canadians the highest per capita consumption in the world. Orange is particularly popular there, with the flavour's share some 18 percentage points higher then the global average.

Western Europe is the second largest regional market, and Canadean said that demand there tends to be higher in the northern countries - in the south of the continent, fresh fruit is more popular.

Of the ten countries with the highest per capita consumption, six are found within the west European region. Germans are the biggest consumers of juice & nectars there, and show a surprising preference for apple - the only country in western Europe where the flavour outsells orange.

On a global basis, though, orange is three times more popular than apple, but does appear to be relinquishing market share to other flavours, according to Canadean.

Despite a slight shift towards chilled/short-life products in western Europe, ambient/long-life has held steady over the last two years, the report suggests. The continued strength of the ambient/long-life sector has helped cartons strengthen their grip on the sector as well, and these now account for well over half of all packaging in the juice & nectars sector.

Glass, more frequently used for short-life and chilled juices, has seen its share of the packaging mix decline in western Europe, but it still holds a respectable share there, according to the report.

With juice being a relatively unsophisticated product - functional drinks apart - producers are obliged to use a broad range of tactics to differentiate themselves from the rest of the pack, including new flavours, new packaging formats and more targeted marketing.

Consumer marketing in particular will become an even more important weapon in the battle for share of throat, according to Canadean, with products becoming highly targeted towards specific consumption occasions and locations - such as more single-serve multipack formats for lunchboxes or more products tailored for specific health needs.

As a result of this expected step up in marketing activity, Canadean predicts that the market for juice & nectars will advance by around 9 per cent by 2006, with much of this incremental volume coming from rapidly developing regions such as eastern Europe, Middle East/North Africa and Asia.

For details of how to order a copy of the Canadean Soft Drinks - Global Juice & Nectars report, click here.