Europe’s fastest-growing beverage flavors? Peach, lemon and ginseng…
This was especially true in juice-containing products – pure juices, nectars and still drinks – the research firm said, where major single flavors orange and apple saw large drops in 2012, while ‘mixed fruit’ flavors grew.
Canadean data shows that, in terms of growth – 2012 versus 2011 – combinations of Peach/Lemon/Ginseng topped the tree, followed by Mulberry, Peach/Green Tea, Banana Pear, and Orange/Kiwi.
Pineapple/Papaya, Apple/Aronia, Pineapple/Lime, Blackcurrent/Pomegranate and Apple/Berries accounted for the lower half of the Top 10.
Enticing new consumers
Varying the flavour mix was an inexpensive way of attracting new consumers, Canadean said, even in countries where tastes were rather conservative.
“This particularly applies to the juice and still drinks categories, perhaps because mixes of fruits are not seen as ‘different’ enough to deter enough to deter even the most conservative consumer,” the company said.
“In addition to attracting new consumers, mixed flavors are more economical to produce than single variants. The specific mix of flavors is not always considered important by consumers, so producers have room to formulate mixes in accordance with the price of raw materials."
Sophisticated citrus mixes
To replace orange juice, Canadean explained that elaborate citrus mixes were finding European favour – for example, in France, where flavour mixes are seen as more sophisticated – and the Andros brand’s mixed-orange flavour drinks were selling well.
“Using mixed flavors also offers the opportunity to incorporate superfruit elements such as aronia and various berries. Many such mixes saw growth in 2012, and this is expected to persist into 2013 as the health and wellness trend continues,” Canadean said.
Apple is a popular choice for mixing with superfruits due to its lower price – apple/aronia and apple/berries are two examples cited by the research firm.
