Fruit Juice and Juice Drinks - UK - Internal Market Environment
Key points
●
Fruit juices fit
perfectly with the current trend towards healthy eating and the achievement of
the ubiquitous recommended five portions of fruit and vegetable per day, for
adults and children alike.
●
Demand for natural
products has created strong demand for juices that are sold at a premium.
●
Juice drinking is
linked strongly to the breakfast meal occasion, which is still enjoyed by the
vast majority of consumers, albeit in changing locations.
Juice ticks the one-of-five box
●
Health
trends continue to shape the fruit juice market in a positive way. As the
Figure below shows, health is a key issue for consumers and they have been
active in pursuing various strategies to improve it.
●
The
FSA’s monitoring of five-a-day consumption shows that in 2007, 58% of UK adults
had eaten five or more portions of fruit and vegetables the previous day,
compared with 55% in 2006. Awareness of the recommended daily intake had also
increased over time to three quarters of adults.
●
The
government carefully restricts manufacturers from claiming that they contain
more than one measure of the five-a-day target in order to encourage
consumption of a variety of fruit and vegetables, with a maximum of one portion
being derived from any one type.
●
Consumers
are already aware of how conveniently a glass of juice contributes to the five
daily recommended portions of fruit and this awareness will only continue to
grow, helping to increase penetration and sales further.
FIGURE 1: Trends for attitudes to food/health,
2003-07
Base: Adults 15+
2003
|
2005
|
2007
|
Change 2003-07
|
|
%
|
%
|
%
|
% points
|
|
I am prepared
to pay more for foods that don't contain artificial additives
|
36.9
|
46.8
|
43.5
|
6.5
|
I always think
of the calories in what I eat
|
21.3
|
22.6
|
24.0
|
2.7
|
I think health
foods are only bought by fanatics
|
16.4
|
14.1
|
14.7
|
-1.6
|
I try to
include plenty of fibre in my diet these days
|
54.8
|
58.9
|
60.0
|
5.2
|
I think fast
food is all junk
|
33.7
|
40.1
|
38.8
|
5.0
|
I consider my
diet to be very healthy
|
38.3
|
42.3
|
43.0
|
4.7
|
Note: All data is
taken from a TGI sample of 25,000 adults
SOURCE:
GB TGI, BMRB Q2 (January-December), 2004/06/08
Nature’s bounty is good for you
●
Consumers
are increasingly showing a preference for natural health over health delivered
through artificial functional ingredients, and are prepared to pay more for
foods that don’t contain any artificial additives (see Figure above).
●
Demand
for naturally healthy products has caused manufacturers to revamp their
products to improve their natural credentials. Two fifths (41%) of product
launches in 2008 claim to contain no additives or preservatives.
●
Products
made from 100% juice have also seen greater demand because consumers appreciate
the fact they are unadulterated. They are also attractive to consumers who are
watching their calorie intake because they contain no added sugar (although
they are high in natural sugars).
●
Similarly
there is increasing activity in the organic arena.
●
A
ban on artificial sweeteners in schools has provided an opportunity for juice
drink brands aimed at children, particularly teenagers, to reformulate.
●
The
emphasis on naturalness has seen manufacturers incorporating a wider range of
unusual ingredients, like flowers, which deliver health, function and taste
without recourse to man-made components; at the same time adding exoticism,
interest and variety, which has helped to keep consumers engaged and deliver
sales at premium prices.
Children’s health is a priority
●
Fruit
juices are popular with children – in 2007 nearly nine in ten children aged
7-19 have drunk small cartons or bottles of juice or juice drinks a week and
volume consumption is rising as increasing numbers drink three or more per
week.
FIGURE 2: Trends for fruit juice and fruit drinks
consumption amongst 7-19-year-olds, 2003-07
Base: kids aged
7-19
2003
|
2005
|
2007
|
2003-07
% change |
|
%
|
%
|
%
|
||
Number of small cartons/small bottles:
|
||||
More than 5
|
11.6
|
13.1
|
13.7
|
+2.1
|
3-5
|
18.8
|
19.3
|
22.3
|
+3.5
|
1 or 2
|
32.5
|
31.9
|
30.6
|
-1.9
|
None
|
15.4
|
14.7
|
13.0
|
-2.4
|
Who buys:
|
||||
Your parents
|
59.6
|
60.9
|
62.0
|
+2.4
|
Yourself
|
20.2
|
19.9
|
20.2
|
0
|
Brother/sister
|
0.6
|
0.6
|
0.6
|
0
|
Someone else
|
3.3
|
2.9
|
3.3
|
0
|
Where drink:
|
||||
At home
|
49.3
|
50.8
|
51.6
|
+2.3
|
At
school/college/work
|
33.1
|
32.3
|
32.2
|
-0.9
|
On the
move/outside
|
17.1
|
16.0
|
16.7
|
-0.4
|
Somewhere else
|
7.6
|
7.4
|
7.9
|
+0.3
|
Taken from the
Youth TGI survey of around 6,000 youths aged 7-19
SOURCE:
Youth TGI, BMRB Spring 2004/06/08/Mintel
●
Increasingly
children and teenagers are drinking small cartons or bottles of fruit juice and
fruit drinks at home so small packs have become a convenient portion-control
mechanism as much as an on-the-go solution.
●
Parents
remain the key purchasers, albeit they are subject to large volumes of pester
power in their decision-making.
●
Pure
fruit juices have been the outright winners in the push to achieve the
five-a-day ideal, particularly in the children’s market where packs have been
portioned and positioned as ‘one of your five-a-day’. This provided parents
with a relatively tasty, easy solution to the daily fruit and veg portion
battle. Fruit juice drinks have been reformulated to deliver a higher fruit
juice content too.
●
As
children reach secondary school age they are more likely to be buying their own
drinks and consuming them away from home, causing a shift in product choice
from pure juices to juice drinks that deliver taste refreshment and hydration.
Conveniences stores, NTCs and schools are important sales channels for these
users.
Wakey! Wakey! Rise and shine with breakfast
●
Mintel’s
exclusive consumer research for this report shows that morning is the principal
time of day when fruit juices and juice drinks are consumed.
●
The
healthy eating movement has targeted breakfast as a critical nutritional
occasion citing scientific evidence of the benefits to health, weight and
performance that a nutritional breakfast can deliver.
●
According
to Mintel’s Breakfast Cereals – UK,
Market Intelligence, February 2008, only 15% of consumers do not eat
breakfast, while some 23 million adults in the UK aged 15+ eat breakfast cereal
on at least a daily basis, suggesting that breakfast as a mealtime occasion is
alive and kicking. Even if consumers skip breakfast, many will still have a
juice.
●
The
importance of breakfast as a healthy start to the day has buoyed up juice
sales, in particular premium and single-ingredient juices. However, a heavy
association, and therefore reliance, on this one meal per day is a barrier to
future penetration growth, which could be achieved through consumption beyond
the morning.
●
The
challenge for fruit juice manufacturers is the changing format and location of
the breakfast eating occasion, which is shifting out of home towards school,
college or work or to a meal eaten on the go.
●
Juices
are relatively portable and well placed to benefit from trends towards
on-the-go meals and out-of-home snacking. However, their failure to fully
exploit this potential to date clearly shows that they require some development
attention, both in formulation and format, to make them more of a mobile choice
or something people will drink later in the day.
Ethical and organic
●
Ethical
considerations are having an increasingly important influence over purchasing
decisions with organic and fair trade products becoming more popular and
mainstream.
●
Organic
fruit juice ranges have benefited from this trend but there remains
considerable potential for trading on ethical issues with the fair trade
potential going virtually untapped.
●
Packaging
has been as much about recycling and premiumisation as convenience in the past
two years with glass making a big comeback on both counts.
FIGURE 3: Trends for format of ready-to-drink fruit
and vegatable drinks (including smoothies), 2004-08
Base: adults aged
15+
2004
|
2006
|
2008
|
Change 2004-08
|
|
%
|
%
|
%
|
% points
|
|
Bottles
|
16.0
|
19.3
|
28.3
|
12.3
|
Cans
|
4.0
|
4.1
|
3.8
|
-0.2
|
Small cartons
(250ml)
|
21.8
|
20.3
|
24.8
|
3
|
1-litre cartons
|
55.5
|
54.6
|
68.5
|
13
|
Taken from the
TGI survey of around 25,000 adults
SOURCE:
TGI, BMRB Q4 (July-June) 2004/06/08/Mintel
●
With
ABs being key environmental warriors and key fruit juice consumers,
environmental issues will very much be on the market agenda in the future so
recycling, carbon footprint, local, organic and fair trade will increase in
influence. In the short term, as the credit crunch bites, volume sales may be
affected as consumers ration their intake and trade off ethical concerns for
financial prudence. However, the cost benefits of pure juices compared to
smoothies may attract more users. Smoothie drinkers have a similar profile and
also exhibit ethical concerns.
●
Ambient
products may benefit in the long term because they have a lower carbon
footprint than chilled products but there will always be a trade-off between
taste and other factors such as ethics so manufacturers will always have to
deliver great taste in conjunction with other benefits.
●
Now
that cost is so much more of an issue, the environment/organic-positioned
products may lose their impact on behaviour.
●
Lightweight
packaging, which makes savings in the transportation of liquids, will also
emerge.
●
The
pace of change may be slowed in the short term as people on tight budgets look
to their own needs before those of the planet and the rest of humanity. Local
will probably win over produce from distant shores.
The battle for shelf space
●
One
of the biggest challenges for juice suppliers is securing shelf space in the
competitive fresh food arena in-store, particularly for the dwindling number of
independent producers in a market where big companies with multi-product
portfolios dominate.
●
Consumer
demand for fresh food continues on a high because it is perceived to be
healthier than ambient or frozen, so much of manufacturers’ NPD and
merchandising effort is going into fresh and chilled produce, creating a
veritable battle for listings and shelf space, in both the on- and off-trade.
●
Chilled
juices have been a fast-growing category in this market but winning shelf space
will become a potential barrier to growth restricting the potential to showcase
new products and to offer promotions.
●
NFC
juices have been the strongest-growing segment and have cannibalised sales from
freshly squeezed products. Multiple retailers have been instrumental in pushing
this switch because they want products with a longer shelf life to reduce
waste. Consumers seem to have accepted this alternative option because
suppliers have successfully managed to maintain the quality consumers like.
Also Read the Fashion Accessories Retailing Market in UK. Contact Academic Research Writers at Mahasagar Publications.
