Back to basics: Juices can take fizz out of colas
TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2004 02:53:17 AM ]

NEW DELHI: There’s lot of juice left in the global market despite all the Coke and Pepsi-type fizzes flowing around. At least that’s what a new report from the beverage industry analysts has maintained.

Besides projecting a persistent feel-good factor in the sector for the future, the report released by beverage industry analysts Canadean has estimated that the global market for fruit juices and nectars will boom by around 9% over current consumption by 2006. And much of this incremental volume will come from rapidly developing regions in Asia including India, eastern Europe, West Asia and north Africa.

The report, however, makes no bones about the fact that fruit juices are really the plain Janes of the chilled drinks biz. And that sexing them up, one way or another, is the manner in which that 9% growth over current global consumption volumes is likely to come. Juice and nectar producers are already looking for new ways for keeping the sales momentum going, in particular segmenting the market around product innovation, packaging and pack sizes, with much of this geared toward the developing countries. So, India can look forward to lots more taaza maza in fruit drinks with age group targeted, conveniently  packaged and vitamin boosted products at highly competitive prices.  And much more of the more non-traditional and esoteric  Green Apple, Cashew and Grapefruit type flavours.

And why should the upward consumption trend projected by the new report taste like nectar to the industry? Because total consumption in the US, the top market for the stuff, declined slightly in 2002 and is expected to have grown only modestly during 2003. North America is by far the biggest market for juice and nectars, accounting for around 35% of the total. But while 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, according to foodproductiondaily.com, the processed food and packaging website. In contrast to thea downward trend in the US, Canada’s consumption is estimated by the industry to have risen by more than 45% since 1997, giving the country its highest per capita in the world consumer label. Orange, rather than the globally more favoured apple, was the most preferred flavour.

On packaging, the report maintains that alongside more esoteric flavours, more flexible sizes and competitive prices will also come more innovatively used packaging material. Consumer marketing in particular will become an important weapon in the battle for the throat, according to the Canadean, with products becoming highly targeted towards specific consumers and locations, such as more single serve, multipack formats for lunch boxes or more juices tailored for specific health needs.