The F&F Industry's Workarounds to Keep Bottled Juice Taste Consistent

I read a ton of Buck Danny when I was young… and when I come across one I cannot help myself picking it up and reading it back to back.

What are the comics of this era that dare to touch on political and cultural elements and even have touch of education in them? And no, I am not talking about Captain Citrus.

Happy weekend people!

Juice News 🧃

Beverage packaging industry responds to rapid transformation

According to PMMI’s research, 68% of beverage companies anticipate moderate to significant increases in packaging machinery investments over the next two to three years, with nearly 90% planning to purchase equipment. These investments are fueled by a trio of major factors: company expansion, consumer demand, and advancements in technology.

Equipment priorities include:

• Filling, capping, and closing systems (62%)

• Conveying, feeding, and handling equipment (51%)

• Palletizing and load stabilization (50%)

• Coding, labeling, and printing technologies (46%).

Consumers want innovative flavor combinations in their beverages

The third annual Seasonal Flavor Guide from flavour supplier FlavorSum offers insights on food and beverage flavor trends across spring, summer, fall, and winter. The new report reveals that seasonal and limited-edition flavors can drive sales across multiple categories, including beverages, and that North American consumers are seeking new and innovative flavour combinations in their beverages.

Dutch-based Founteyn secures €13.5M in Series A funding

The company’s patented system reduces packaging material by 80 per cent and cuts carbon footprint by 50 per cent compared to traditional PET bottles and aluminium cans. Founteyn’s all-in-one drinking platform serves trademark-quality beverages through its patented capsule-based system, delivering freshly made drinks in less than 15 seconds. The system reduces packaging material by more than 80 per cent while maintaining taste and quality for hot, cold, still, or sparkling beverages.

Citrus News 🍊

Soon Your Orange Juice Will Have Even Less Fruit In It

Now, commercial juice can taste more like oranges than the fruits themselves, although the process isn’t well understood by customers. Added flavors, often in liquid form, aren’t usually listed on ingredient labels, because the oils and essences used to create them — processed as they are to achieve specific flavors — still come from the fruit. (Sometimes they come from other natural ingredients, in which case the label can still say 100% natural or note the inclusion of natural flavors.) With orange supplies under threat from disease, bottled juice is set to depend even more heavily on those flavors.

U.S. citrus packer rolls out Tomra's LUCAi deep learning tech

Kings River Packing group, a family-owned company with three citrus packing houses - Kings River Packing, Cobblestone Fruit, and Jireh Packing - is rolling out LUCAi™, the latest deep learning A.I. grading technology, to all of their sorting lines that currently have TOMRA's Spectrim vision system.

New Systems bring Stronger yields to Florida Peaches: Stone Fruit Field Day

Dr. Sarkhosh joined UF nearly eight years ago at a time when Florida’s citrus industry was facing unprecedented challenges due to citrus greening. His program quickly pivoted toward diversifying the state’s fruit portfolio through collaboration with long-time stone fruit breeder, Dr. José Chaparro. For citrus producers looking to diversify, peaches can serve as an important transition crop. Although they require more precise management than juice-oriented crops, the potential returns, especially in terms of fruit quality, make them worth the effort. And for growers facing ongoing disease challenges, stone fruit offers a viable path toward profitability.

Citrus Funding Appears Promising

Recent reports from Florida Citrus Mutual (FCM) and California Citrus Mutual (CCM) indicate that major support is likely forthcoming for the U.S. citrus industry.

Research Worth Reading 🔬

Comparative HPLC-DAD-ESI-QTOF-HR-MS/MS analyses of phenolic compounds of authentic lemon, lime, orange, and grapefruit juices

Mass fragmentations of flavone-C- and O-glycosides as well as limocitrin glycosides and their acylated derivatives carrying malonyl- and/or hydroxymethylglutaryl moieties are proposed. The presence of diverse phenolic compounds in juices from four Citrus species was confirmed and numerous novel constituents were assigned. Total levels of phenolic constituents in the aforementioned Citrus juices are presented.

Novel citrus hybrids incorporating Australian lime genetics: development of HLB-tolerant citrus rootstocks and physiological changes in ‘Valencia’ sweet orange scions

These results demonstrate the practical benefits of using Australian lime-derived hybrids as rootstocks to increase HLB tolerance in citrus, offering a promising approach for the sustainable management of HLB in commercial citrus production.

Detection of Soluble Solid Content in Citrus Fruits Using Hyperspectral Imaging with Machine and Deep Learning: A Comparative Study of Two Citrus Cultivars

These findings highlight the potential of combining HSI with advanced modeling for citrus SSC prediction, while emphasizing the need for variety-specific models. Future research should focus on developing more robust and generalized prediction models by incorporating a broader range of citrus varieties and exploring the impact of varietal characteristics on model performance.

Citrus Trees Reimagined: A Living Weapon Against Citrus Greening

In a new study published in Horticulture Research (November 6, 2024), researchers from the University of Florida and international collaborators unveiled a living attract-and-kill system powered by a modified citrus tristeza virus. The virus was engineered to express a triple gene construct targeting both the plant and its pest. When delivered into citrus trees, the virus enhances the plant’s attractiveness to psyllids while simultaneously silencing genes critical to insect development, creating an elegant self-contained defense mechanism against HLB spread.