OJ Futures break 500

Long and full format this Monday. Working on some changes in realtime, which leads to a question:

🧃 Juice News

Tropicana orange juice shrinking

By now, shrinkflation is a part of the American vocabulary as manufactures shrink items to keep price hikes down.

Prices of orange juice are soaring, with the USDA saying the average supermarket jug is now $4.28 - double its price in April 2020.

Now, a new report in ConsumerWorld says Tropicana is holding the line on another price hike, by shrinking its container, again.

Walmart recalls apple juice sold in 25 states due to elevated arsenic levels

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration gave the recall a more urgent classification Friday after making its original announcement Aug. 15. The new classification said the affected product may temporarily cause adverse health consequences but is unlikely to cause serious or irreversible medical issues.

Target exec details plans to expand food, beverage business

“In food, comp sales growth in the low single digits was led by seasonal moments, with hundreds of new items across snacking, grilling and entertaining,” Gomez said in the second-quarter call. “With exclusive-to-Target items like Bubly’s Melted Ice Pop flavor (sparkling water), which quickly grew to be the highest-selling item in its category, we help guests celebrate summer with fun, new flavors and items.

“We’ve also pushed ourselves to rethink assortment strategies that have been tried and true for years. For example, we transitioned our candy aisles, leading into some of the most popular trends like better-for-you options, including lower-sugar treats and wellness candies. While this category is already growing, these changes raise the bar, accelerating comp growth into the double digits.”

Sweeteners and their function in food and drink manufacture

[Interesting read, especially in correlation with upcoming writings about sugar-reduction. Stay alert! ^JvI]
Due to the nature of the sector, research into sweetener use is ongoing, meaning they are all frequently evaluated.

Some major safety milestones in sweeteners’ use include a 2016 study on the carcinogenic potential of sucralose (E955) in mice; the publication of the EFSA’s protocol for assessing exposure to sweeteners in 2020​; and a revised protocol for hazard identification and hazard characterisation of sweeteners in 2023​.

Sweeteners are made in many ways, including extraction from plants (steviol), synthesis (saccharin) or with microorganism use such as with the production of erythritol.

Ukrainian fruit juice kingpin owes Cargill $124M judgment, but can’t be found