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- Brazil's Orange Harvest at lowest point in 27 years
Brazil's Orange Harvest at lowest point in 27 years
Watermelon drink gets NBA player endorsement and Citrus Fruits Increase Gut Bacteria That May Lower Depression Risk
Jan van Iperen
November 26, 2024
For Professionals in the Juice and Citrus industry
There are days that I read a multitude of positive news that makes for my trust in humanity to be restored instantly… So many new brands are doing it right.
And there are so many examples of doing it right.
It makes the “rotten apples” in this industry stand out in a bad way, and that is good. It is usually not legislation that drives change, but change of buying behavior of a massive group of consumers. Shift.
I see that change happening. And it makes me inspired, happy and drives me towards impact.
What movement in our industry gets you excited!?
Oh, one more thing:
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In Today's newsletter:
🧃 Juice News
Peterson Farms processes asparagus, apples, sweet cherries, blueberries, and peaches, and today is a leading marketer of fresh sliced apples, applesauce, and frozen fruits across the U.S. In August, the company acquired King Brands and became Peterson Brands, LLC, which the company said significantly expanded its product portfolio and offered new market reach.
Is the drinks industry really as stressed about water as it should be? João Brites, director of growth and innovation at US food rating and environmental accounting firm HowGood, suggests the answer is actually closer to “frequently no”. He explains: “While most drinks companies reference water stewardship in their sustainability reports, their understanding of water stewardship is often limited to ‘improving manufacturing water use’.”
The Expana Benchmark Price (EBP) for high-acidity apple juice is currently at an all-time high of €2,700 per metric tonne (MT) on October 31, representing a 48% year-on-year (y-o-y). Market players have indicated that sourcing high-acidity apple juice from Poland has been particularly challenging, prompting some buyers to turn to Ukraine, which has provided limited quantities.
Research shows consumers are increasingly looking for ethical brands or brands with purpose.
It’s tempting to champion this as a new movement, but Duncan Goose of One Water – a brand that’s gearing up to celebrate its 20th anniversary – says this desire is not new.
“I think consumers who ‘want to do good’ have always been part of society," he said. "If you look back to the early Co-Op movement and the Rochdale Pioneers [essentially an early co-operative] it was there then and history is littered with early social entrepreneurs, stemming back hundreds of years - right the way through to the early days of the Fairtrade movement to where we are today.
“However, what I think has probably changed is the awareness of these brands, partly helped by the evolution of ‘marks’ such as the original ‘Social Enterprise’ one, or the more recent ‘B Corp’ to help flag to consumers that something good is going on….linked to the rise of social media and ‘badging’ - the impact when people say ‘look at me with this brand’.
Given watermelon’s natural hydrating properties and all of the natural sugar in the beverage, Mela became a go-to of Hart’s. “Sometimes as an athlete, you have to make that sacrifice of ‘I need to do what is nutritious for me’ and not just what’s delicious,” he says. “Fortunately enough for me, Mela is both.” He not only would drink it before games for a boost of energy, but he says it became part of his lifestyle.
Hart was already an investor in a different beverage brand, Lemon Perfect, a hydrating lemon water, so he understood the territory when he decided to reach out to Mela CEO Dominic Purpura. Although Purpura wasn’t quite ready to bring on a partner like him just yet, Hart remained a loyal customer.
7-Eleven said the redesigned bottles offer a host of benefits, including using less plastic both in the bottle itself and in the wrapping, resulting in an estimated annual plastic waste reduction of 104 metric tons. In addition, by optimizing the packaging, 7-Eleven can now fit more cases per pallet, which will reduce the number of trucks required to keep stores supplied by nearly 25%.
Hint, Inc., maker of the market-leading unsweetened flavored still water, is excited to announce the appointment of new leadership and incremental capital to further solidify the company and position it for future growth.
Michael Pengue, previously CEO of ZOA Energy, and a seasoned executive in the better-for-you beverage sector, has been named CEO. Additionally, industry veteran Kevin Benmoussa has joined as CFO, bringing two decades of experience spanning Fortune 500 and private equity-backed startup companies in the food and beverage space.
🍊 Citrus News
The British Fruit Juice Association has also reported that orange juice availability is at its lowest in over 50 years. As a result, countries that have traditionally relied on importing Brazilian orange juice may need to seek alternative suppliers, potentially boosting exports from other major producers such as South Africa. However, building new trade relationships and supply chains will take time, leaving the global orange juice market unstable in the near future.
The study, published in Microbiome on Nov. 14, investigated the connection between citrus consumption, depression, and gut health. Researchers analyzed dietary patterns, depression status, blood metabolites, and gut bacteria in stool samples from more than 32,000 middle-aged women in the Nurses’ Health Study 2 (NHS2), a long-term observational study tracking women’s health designed to investigate the relationship between various lifestyle factors and the risk of chronic diseases.
They found that those who consumed more citrus had a 22 percent decreased risk of depression, emphasizing that this protective effect seems specific to citrus, as other fruits, such as apples and bananas, did not demonstrate the same benefit.
In the scramble to find a viable replacement for citrus, farmers have searched high and low. Agriculture entrepreneurs have sung the praises of countless miracle crops — everything from bamboo to hemp — that have mostly failed to take off. But about 10 years ago, a farmer learned of a subtropical “super tree” called pongamia that grows throughout in other countries with similar climates to Central Florida. He read lots of studies out of Australia about these pongamia trees: their hardiness, their adaptability, and the beans they produce, which can be processed into biofuel or high-protein foods for people and cattle. He reached out to the Ministry of Agriculture in India to get some pongamia seeds, and they were “very happy” to provide.
As orange juice prices soar—up 130% year-on-year according to Mintec's Benchmark Prices—companies are embracing innovative strategies to cope with the supply shortages. In an intriguing development within the UK, juice producer Coldpress has turned to mandarin juice as an alternative. Utilising high-pressure processing (HPP) technology, the company capitalised on the plentiful supply of Spanish mandarins.
Andrew Gibb, founder of Coldpress, endorses mandarins as a nutritious choice, rich in vitamins and minerals, that can enhance vision and immune health. Not only is mandarin juice more cost-effective compared to orange juice, but it also appeals to broader consumption needs, including use in mocktails and as a general beverage throughout the day. Coldpress’s mandarin juice can now be found in popular retailers such as Lidl, Aldi and Ocado.
In partnership with Natoora, MOMO Kombucha incorporated Green Mandarins from Sicily. Best known for its role in the perfume industry, the aromatic green mandarin's full potential is unlocked in unique culinary applications like this one. To create this beverage, Tardivo di Ciaculli Mandarins were picked weeks ahead of their fully ripe harvest.
Sergio del Castillo Valderrama, the general manager of the Association of Citrus Producers of Peru (ProCitrus), reported that Peru is the second-largest mandarin exporter in the southern hemisphere (after South Africa) and the first in South America. Globally, it ranks seventh.
In terms of citrus fruits in general (mandarin, tangelo, orange, grapefruit, lemon), Peru ranks as the world's 14th biggest exporter and the 21st producer.
🔬 Research Worth Reading
Among lower-income populations, social norms and attitudes towards the healthfulness of SSBs meaningfully declined over time, with smaller tax-related effects. SSB taxes as well as the local media attention they generate appear to affect people’s perceptions of SSBs. Pairing SSB taxes with messaging campaigns may be more effective in de-normalizing SSB consumption.
This review thoroughly summarizes using citrus fruit processing waste for pectin extraction, aiming to develop biodegradable packaging films applicable to the food industry. Such initiatives address environmental concerns and foster sustainable food packaging practices.
The observations indicate the feasibility of the distinction between affected and healthy plots during a year utilizing specific spectral ranges, with SWIR proving a notably effective channel, enabling separability from mid-summer to the fall. Furthermore, the anomaly inspection demonstrates an increase in the effects of the pest from 2020 to 2022 in all spectral regions and enables a first approximation for identifying healthy and affected fields based on negative anomalies in the red and SWIR channels and positive anomalies in the NIR and NDVI.
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