What you need to know
Estimated at £4.7 billion, total fruit juice, juice drinks and smoothies grew by 3.3% over 2010-15, although volumes saw a 13% decline over this period, to stand at 1.8 billion litres. Average prices have been rising over the past five years, at the expense of volumes.
78% of UK adults drink 100% fruit juice, juice drinks or smoothies, demonstrating their popularity as a household staple. 100% fruit juice is the most popular, with 49% of adults drinking it once a week or more and accounting for around 60% of value and volume sales.
The dangers of excessive sugar in diets attracted prolonged negative media coverage in 2014 and into 2015, which has had a negative impact on sales of fruit juice and to a lesser extent, smoothies. NPD is, however, looking to counter this through innovation on low/no/reduced sugar variants and those containing alternative sweeteners such as the plant-derived stevia.
Elsewhere, premiumisation in cold-pressed formats and vegetable blends is helping to add value to the market, and should help the market to capitalise on the predicted rise in consumer incomes in 2015, which is expected to continue over 2015-20.
Covered in this report
This report examines the market for fruit juice, juice drinks and smoothies in the UK through both on- and off-trade outlets.
Fruit juice and juice drinks can be described as:
Fruit juice: These must legally be made of 100% pure fruit juice. This may or may not include pulp and is often pasteurised to make it last longer. A typical example is Tropicana Pure Fruit Juice.
Juice drinks: These are drinks that contain less than 100% fruit juice and have added ingredients, mainly water but these can also include sweeteners, flavourings, colourings and/or vitamins. A juice drink must contain a minimum of 2% comminuted fruit, although most have a much greater proportion. This sector includes ready-to-drink (RTD) versions of concentrated squashes, eg Ribena.
There are also some juices that contain a combination of fruit juices and vegetable juices and these are included in Mintel’s definition of fruit juices, provided they consist of 50% or more fruit juice. Coconut water brands like Vita Coco are included in the market size.
For the purposes of this report, Mintel has defined a smoothie as a drink that is made with pure crushed fruit, but which may also include a small amount of fruit juice or purée, yogurt, milk or soymilk, and is smooth in texture. The report will also make reference to smoothie/juice bars, however, the focus is on the prepacked smoothies market and sales of unpacked smoothies are not included in the market size.
