Bottled Water, for the 9th year, the number 1 beverage in the US

Those bottled water figures are mind-boggling… Makes me wonder if I’m in the right industry.

Just kidding, I know I am. But it is amazing: “Bottled water’s volume surpassed soft drinks for the first time in 2016 and has done so every year since. Americans consumed, on average, 47.3 gallons of bottled water in 2024.”

That is about 180 liter… of mostly in plastic bottled water. Again: mind-boggling.

Juice News 🧃

The Public-Policy Argument for Cutting Soda Consumption

In places where public health advocates have overcome the industry’s largesse, higher sugary drink taxes have had the intended impact of decreasing purchases. For example, volume sales of sugary drinks declined by more than 50 percent after Philadelphia enacted a sugary drink tax in 2017. Seattle saw a nearly 25 percent decline in volume sales after its sugary drink tax took effect in 2018.

The Real Phizz: Egypt’s Homegrown Soda Takes on the Global Giants

The Real Phizz’s entry into the market is not just about national pride; it’s about flavor. In blind taste tests that the company made, an impressive 85% of consumers perceived The Real PHIZZ as Pepsi. If you’re a Pepsi lover, you’ll know that it kind of is hard to copy or even provide something of the same quality. This testament is one that proves the brand’s commitment to perfecting the classic cola flavor that people tend to crave from time to time.

Bottled water growth outperforms all other packaged drinks

For the ninth consecutive year, bottled water is the number one beverage, by volume, in the United States. Bottled water’s total consumption volume in 2024 was 16.4 billion gallons, with a growth rate of 2.9%. Carbonated soft drinks (11.9 billion gallons) grew by a mere 0.2% and energy drinks by 1.6%, while sports drinks fell by -2.7%, ready to drink coffee by -2.3, fruit beverages by -2.5%, and both value-added water and ready to drink tea fell by -1.3%.

Just Ice Tea’s Seth Goldman on RTD lessons from Coca-Cola, Honest Tea

The story is one of rising from the ashes. Seth Goldman founded Honest Tea in the 90s; sold it to Coca-Cola, then saw the brand ditched by the beverage giant during a pandemic reshuffle. But rather than lament a decision he had no control over, Goldman saw this as a ‘call to action’ to re-enter the RTD space with an Honest Tea 2.0 that’s fine-tuned to the needs of today’s consumers.

Just Ice Tea is gearing up for a mega summer season with expansion across to more than 6,000 new stores in Target, CVS, Walmart and more across the US: now reaching more than 12,000 stores in total.

Campbell’s V8 launches powdered energy drink mixes

A lightweight powder is a popular option for active consumers or others on-the-go, as the mixes can easily be carried along and added to water at any time. Powders can also be cheaper than cans, giving energy drink fanatics a more affordable option.

AI, smart tech reshape beverage packaging landscape

Consumer demand and regulatory pressures are prompting beverage companies to explore more sustainable packaging options. Flexible plastic packaging is expected to see substantial growth, despite current recycling infrastructure limitations.

Compostable paper and plastic materials are also gaining traction, with projections indicating a significant increase in their use by 2032.

Citrus News 🍊

"First National Citrus Congress in Marrakech is a strategic turning point for the sector"

The first National Citrus Congress, held in Marrakech from 13 to 15 May 2025, marked a pivotal moment for Morocco's citrus industry. Organized by Maroc Citrus, the Moroccan interprofessional federation for citrus, and chaired by Kacem Bennani Smires, this event brought together producers, researchers, exporters, policymakers, and international partners to deliver a frank assessment of the sector and outline practical, urgent measures to safeguard its future.

Research Worth Reading 🔬

The accumulation pattern of sugars and organic acids in diverse fruit pulps coordinates sweet-sour taste of passion fruit

• There are significant flavor differences and sensory qualities among passion fruit varieties.

• Passion fruit varieties exhibit distinct patterns of sugar and organic acid accumulation within different fruit pulp structures.

• Sucrose concentrates in the pulp neck, influencing sweet flavor, while citric acid mainly accumulates in the pulp body.

Mechanism and Multilayer Perceptron prediction model of the removal of α-terpineol, terpinen-4-ol and carvone from pasteurized citrus juices by β-cyclodextrin encapsulation

Multiple prediction models were constructed and evaluated by deep learning using basic physicochemical indicators such as sucrose content, citric acid content, pH, temperature and storage conditions as input variables, and peak area of off-flavor compounds as output layer. The results showed that the Multilayer Perceptron Model had great potential in predicting the cyclodextrin embedding effect.

Use of black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens) larvae in orange peel waste treatment

In 2024, Vietnam was ranked 9th in global orange production, especially for the orange juice and essential oils industries, generating a huge amount of orange peel waste (OPW) annually. Numerous biological methods have been applied to treat the peel waste and gain by-products, yet the costs are still high, and there are leftovers to be treated. There is still a lack of studies on the application of black soldier fly larvae (BSFL) in treating OPW as a single-stream substrate under different preprocessing conditions.