The market for 100% juice should return to growth despite global economic slowdown and the recent debate around sugar, according to Tetra Pak’s 100% Juice Index report.

According to the company, the combination of emerging growth hotspots and slowing decline in established markets is stabilising 100% juice and bringing it back to growth going forward to 2018.

Insights from the report show that 100% juice remains a significant part of the average consumer diet, with more than 40% of people drinking it every day.

Furthermore, consumers say that they are willing to pay a premium for juices that they associate with healthy choices.

These findings indicate great potential for 100% juice. Growth will come from products that meet consumer needs focused on health and out of home consumption, trends particularly strong with Millennials, the most influential generation of consumers yet. The industry has already responded with innovation in three key areas; vegetable nutrition, ‘all natural’, and speciality 100% juice.

• Vegetable nutrition: Vegetable blends, where vegetables and fruit are combined, lowering the natural sugar content and adding health benefits, are now the fourth most popular 100% juice flavour globally. New product launches using vegetables as an ingredient tripled in 2015 compared with 2012.
• All natural: Over the last six years, not from concentrate (NFC) juice has gained market share compared with reconstituted products, rising from 25% in 2009 to almost 30% in 2015. New launches for products that make “all natural” claims have seen a compound annual growth rate of 25% between 2012 and 2015 –  especially those with no additives and/or preservatives.
• Speciality 100% juice: More than 60% of consumers globally say they are interested in products with proven health benefits. As well as adding vegetables into the mix, producers are increasingly offering “fortified with” or “vitamin-enriched” 100% juice. For example, in 2015 fortified products with functional health benefits in immunity, heart health, digestion, bone health, brain health and beauty made up two thirds of new product launches.

Tetra Pak President and CEO Dennis Jönsson said: “It is good to see that brands globally are turning the challenges presented by changing lifestyles and the sugar debate into opportunities. They are driving growth in the 100% juice category with new products that capture the imagination of consumers, stretching beyond traditional fruit juices such as orange and apple, to a range of inventive vegetable blends, and new fruit flavours, creating endless possibilities for new recipes. As ever, the key to success is innovation, offering the right product at the right time to meet the modern consumers’ needs, and, just as importantly, capturing their attention and making a connection with them.”

The Tetra Pak report also highlights great potential for 100% juice in emerging markets, with remarkable growth already taking place in China and Brazil, and other hotspots in countries such as Malaysia, India and Indonesia.

AIJN President Marjan Skotnicki-Hoogland said: “The launch of the 2016 Tetra Pak 100% Juice Index, a category report packed with global insights, is a great way to help the industry understand the opportunities available to them, and position juice as part of a healthy and nutritious diet.”

The Tetra Pak 100% Juice Index report is based on market insights through the company’s partnership with customers around the globe, as well as recent research findings from 7,000 consumers in seven countries.

More information on 100% juice and the full report can be found at http://www.tetrapak.com/juiceindex