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Mercosur & EU Agreement Expected to Boost Citrus Industry in Brazil
And wishing you and your loved ones Joy and Health, togetherness and good spirit, for the remainder of 2024, and well into 2025.
Jan van Iperen
December 23, 2024
For Professionals in the Juice and Citrus industry
As usual around this time, there will be a short hiatus towards the new year, allowing me to spend time with family and friends, recalibrate myself and this newsletter.
The next edition of Juice News will be published on Monday January 6th.
2024 was a special year for me and for my family, and is has set an exciting tone for what the coming year can bring. I am fortunate to operate in an industry and amongst peers who inspire and challenge me, in an environment that forces me to keep developing and growing.
While I know that 2025 will have challenges on its own, challenges that we’ll face together, I’ve never felt this much alive and driven by cause.
I’m wishing you, your loved ones and peers, the optimal spirit and drive into 2025 and hope you can overcome all challenges, with peers AND competitors (there is so much more to gain together), while still putting health and family front and center.
Happy Holidays, dear readers!
In Today's newsletter:
🧃 Juice News
Laws around the US - most recently in Hawaii - are cropping up that allow THC in beverages, a move that some experts say will have mixed benefits for those seeking an alternative to alcohol.
It’s part of a growing trend of policies that make THC drinks available, often where alcohol is sold. About a year ago, Minnesota passed a law allowing THC drinks to be sold in liquor stores; ever since, these beverages have begun to appear on shelves around the country.
In BevNet’s new products roundup, Ocean Spray jumps on the powdered beverage train, good2grow grows its BIGGER juice line, and LEVIA takes inspiration from an iconic Massachusetts restaurant’s Scorpion Bowl cocktail.
🍊 Citrus News
The overall decline in OJ volume continues to be offset by price increases, particularly in larger packaging sizes (40 to 70 ounces). However, segments like reconstituted and larger NFC OJ (70 to 110 ounces) are struggling with sharper volume and revenue losses. While grapefruit juice sales volumes are declining, stable revenues supported by pricing growth show resilience. This niche market is holding steady relative to shortages.
Currently, exporting orange juice to the EU faces tariffs ranging from 12.2% to 15%, depending on product specifications, as indicated by CitrusBR (National Association of Citrus Juice Exporters). However, these trade barriers will be gradually eliminated under the new agreement over 7 to 10 years.
Brazil, the world’s largest exporter of orange juice, has the European Union as its primary consumer market. According to Comex Stat data, in the 2023/24 harvest season (from July 2023 to June 2024), the EU accounted for nearly 55% of Brazil’s total export revenue.
Despite what he calls a “frustrating” season for growers, Matt Joyner, the chief executive of Florida Citrus Mutual, said he was confident of better times ahead.
“We have a lot of tools now, just in the last 18-24 months, to deal with citrus greening that we had not had prior, and so tree health, a lot of the metrics that we’ve been looking for as we’ve been looking for solutions, are finally coming around,” he said.
Spain's Valencian Association of Farmers (AVA-ASAJA) warns of the “black year of South African citrus which, with these detections, accumulates a total of 31 interceptions of this serious quarantine disease so far in 2024, demonstrating their unwillingness or inability to ensure the phytosanitary safety of their shipments.”
Therefore, the organization chaired by Cristóbal Aguado is urging the European Commission to tighten controls on foreign imports and prevent the entry of new pests and diseases not present in Europe.
At the Volcani Institute, the Agriculture Research Organization of Israel which is based in the city of Tel Aviv, researchers have come up with over 200 varieties of oranges called Mandarins.
Volcani Institute Researcher LIVNAT GOLDENBERG says the varieties of oranges are being made with specific climatic and environmental knowledge so that they can suit local settings around the world.
🔬 Research Worth Reading
Orange juice production industry generates tons of solid waste annually, losing the opportunity of recovering high added value bioactive compounds, such as polyphenols. Solid-liquid extraction was previously studied for extracting the phenolic compounds from the solid waste to a liquid stream. In this work, an integrated membrane process has been investigated for the purification and concentration of phenolic compounds from the orange extract.
The present study focused on the enrichment of apple juice with anthocyanins and other phenolic compounds by direct ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE) from bilberry pomace. Response surface methodology combined with a Box–Behnken design was used to find the optimal extraction conditions for maximizing the total anthocyanin content (TAC), total phenolic content (TPC) and DPPH radical scavenging activity (RSA) in the enriched apple juices and to characterize their phenolic profile as influenced by the extraction temperature.
These findings indicate that CPEOs possess excellent antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anticancer activity potential, making them suitable for use in functional antioxidant and anti-inflammatory foods and nutritional health products.
✨ Classifieds
Sponsorship and Classifieds will start as of February 3rd 2025.
Let me know if you’re interested in reaching an interested and dedicated audience within the juice, beverage and citrus industry.
PS Have to share this intriguing article I came across, describing the strange connection between produce growers and organizations like the Mafia.