According to the German Juice Association, orange flavour accounts for 1 quarter of the retail sales of juices and nectars. The real share of consumption is larger (more than one-third), as it includes additional quantities in freshly squeezed oranges, smoothies and other drinks. Citrus and tropical juices are very popular ingredients in juice mixes with the addition of vitamins, called multi-vitamin juices. Their use as an ingredient in smoothies, functional drinks and flavoured waters is also increasing fast. Citrus and tropical juices are mostly used for direct consumption, or as ingredients in the beverages industry to produce juices, smoothies, soft drinks and other beverages. They are also used as ingredients in products like fruit preparations, fillings and toppings. High-acid citrus juices (limon or lime) are consumed diluted with water, used as acidity regulators or used as ingredients in drinks. Some juices (such as lemon) are also sometimes processed into powder, usually via a spray drying process, and exported as concentrated powder. Vitamin C is already an established ingredient in juices and nectars, mostly because of its antioxidant properties. COVID-19 has contributed to the development of drinks with more added nutrients that can have a positive impact on the immune system. These drinks often use citrus and tropical juices as ingredients with added complex vitamins, minerals (especially zinc) and probiotics.

Juice extraction – extraction is performed in different ways, depending on the fruit type and machine design. Different types of grinders, presses, sieves and other equipment are developed by equipment producers such as Bucher Unipektin, Alfa Laval, JBT and Brown. Citrus processing also includes the extraction of oil from the peel. For some types of juices, enzymes are used to increase the juice yield.

See our studies on coconut water, mango puree and pineapple juice to learn more about European markets for these specific juice industry products. Orange juice is the most popular imported juice in Europe, accounting for an almost 80% share of total imports of all citrus and tropical juices. Pineapple juice follows with 12%, lemon juice with 4% and grapefruit juice with 3%. Most orange juice (51%) is imported as low-Brix (<20°) or NFC juice; 26% is imported as concentrated juice and 3% as frozen concentrated orange juice. Grapefruit and other citrus juices are mainly imported in concentrated form, while pineapple and other tropical juices are mainly imported as NFC. Fruit sizing – sizing is not used for each type of fruit processing, but it is typical in citrus juice production. Sizing allows optimal pressure of the presses in the next steps. If the fruit is too big, for example, high pressure can extract bitter components of the peel. Like in other European countries, French consumers’ concerns about the high sugar content in juices have influenced consumption. Consumption of all juices continued to decrease in 2020, but due to the impact of COVID-19, retail sales and at-home consumption performed better compared to out-of-home consumption. Total consumption decreased from 1.65 billion litres in 2010 to 1.24 billion litres in 2020. Orange juice accounted for 43.1% of the market, pineapple for 3.5%, other single tropical fruits for 2.1%, grapefruit for 1.7% and mandarin/clementine for 1.7%.

Juice processing technology is constantly evolving, with many innovative solutions and process automations. The typical production process for bulk juices includes the following steps: To find out more about general trends, read our study about Trends on the European Processed Fruit and Vegetables Market. Immunity-boosting and functional drinks France is the leading European consumer of pineapple juice. Apparent consumption (the difference between imports and exports) of pineapple juice reached 48 thousand tonnes in 2020. Imports of mandarin and lemon juices increased at an average annual rate of 5-6% over the last 5 years, but most of those juices are sourced from Spain and Italy. The import of passion fruit juice increased at a similar rate of 6%, with Peru as the main supplier, followed by Ecuador. Evaporation – different types of evaporation equipment are used to remove water from fruit juices. The most common types include the continuous flow of juice through several heated tubes under vacuum. As heat is used to evaporate water from juice, no additional pasteurisation is needed.

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Italy is another European country with its own significant production of citrus juices. However, Italy provides opportunities for developing country suppliers, as the country cannot produce enough for the local market and imports citrus juices (especially lemon) from other destinations. Also, Italy is a significant importer of pineapple and other tropical juices. Over the last 5 years, Italian imports of citrus and tropical juices increased at an average annual rate of 5%, reaching 74 thousand tonnes in 2020.