Fruit and vegetable juices

Introduction

Find information on the production process and FAQs at www.safja.co.za, website of the South African Fruit Juice Association.

Fruit and vegetable juice are drinks produced by squeezing or crushing fruit and vegetables.

The market can be categorised as fruits, vegetable, and mixed. Fruits are divided into mango, apple, guava, pomegranate, grape, orange, lemon, pineapple, and others. Orange Juice continues to be the most preferred juice. Vegetables are divided into carrot, beetroot, tomato, pumpkin and others (Insight Survey, 2023).

In South Africa, there are specific regulations relating to fruit juice and what they may contain in terms of additives and preservatives, and that sets the definition for what a fruit juice must be called, based on its composition:
 
  • Fruit drinks – a minimum pure fruit juice content of 6%.
  • Carbonated fruit drinks – in addition to carbonation effects these should provide nutritional elements of the fruit along with natural pigments and flavour.
  • Nectar – should include a minimum of 12.5% to 50% pure fruit juice content, depending on the type of fruit used. For instance, orange nectar requires a minimum of 50% pure orange juice and lemon nectar a minimum of 12.5% pure juice.
  • Pure fruit juice is classified into two sub-categories, unsweetened fruit juice, which includes 100% pure fruit juice and sweetened fruit juice, which comprises 70-90% pure juice, depending on the type of fruit used in the juice e.g. lemon – 70% minimum pure lemon juice, orange – 90% pure orange juice).
Source: The South African Juice Industry Landscape Report and www.bizcommunity.com/Article/196/168/98731.html

International business environment

The global Juice market (including Fruit and Vegetable Juice) is estimated to reach a value of approximately US$116.8 billion in 2023. The market is anticipated to increase at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3.7%, to reach a value of approximately US$140.1 billion, by the end of 2027 (Insight Survey, 2023).

Orange juice is included in the monthly “Citrus: World Markets and Trade” from the USDA at https://apps.fas.usda.gov/psdonline/circulars/citrus.pdf

  1. Top producers of orange juice: Brazil, Mexico, US, South Africa, and the EU (USDA, 2024).
  2. Where orange juice domestic consumption is highest: US by a long way, followed by SA, EU, and Japan (USDA 2024)
  3. The top orange juice exporters: Brazil, Mexico, EU, SA, and the US (USDA 2024)
  4. The top importers of orange juice are the EU, US, UK, China and Canada (USDA, 2024).

South Africa exported R648 million of juice to Spain in 2021, the largest export destination for juice, followed by R530 million to Japan and R488 million to Botswana (BFAP, 2022).

Further reference:

Local business environment

The local Juice market achieved growth of 3.4% year-on-year, in current prices, between 2020 and 2021. This growth was partially due to the increase in mindful consumption within the Juice market, in terms of both personal health and the environment, which has accelerated innovation in the industry (Insight Survey, 2023, 2022). Read about the Insight Survey South African Juice Industry Report (2023) at https://insightsurvey.co.za/south-african-fruit-juice-industry-report-industry-specific.

Role players

Note: Click to expand the headings below.  To get a free listing on our website like the ones below, visit here for more information or place your order here. Disclaimer: The role player listings are not vetted by this website.

 
African Aloe – www.africanaloe.com
Loxion Beverages – www.facebook.com/LoxionRising
Dewfresh – www.dewfresh.co.za
In2food – www.in2food.co.za
Consumer Goods Council of South Africa – www.cgcsa.co.za
South African Fruit Juice Association – https://safja.co.za
FoodBev SETA – www.foodbev.co.za FoodBev is the Sector Education Training Authority (SETA) responsible for facilitating education and training in the food and beverages manufacturing sector. Find a list of accredited training providers on the website.
Umgibe Farming Organics and Training Institute – https://umgibe.org
Agricultural Research Council (ARC)-Infruitec/Nietvoorbij – www.arc.agric.za Training courses offered include the following outcomes: (i) Basic skills in fruit sorting, choosing suitable varieties for juice making (ii) Extraction and juicing methods for cottage industry (iii) Extraction for industrial purposes (iv) Packing and preservation of fruit juice to extend shelf life (v) Business skills to manage juicing plant/ business.
ARC-Agricultural Engineering (AE) – www.arc.agric.za Included in this campus’ mandate is agro-processing. Read about processing citrus fruit at its web pages at www.arc.agric.za and order the manual on the Agro-processing of Citrus Fruit.

Food Advisory Consumer Service (FACS) – http://foodfacts.org.za

Further reference:

  • Find the associations listed on the “Fruit” page.

Government

  • Also refer to this heading on the general “Agro-processing” page. Other departments of relevance include the Department of Health and the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (the dtic).
  • Find information on all Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) directorates at www.dalrrd.gov.za. Of relevance to this page are (i) International Trade (ii) Agro-Processing Support and (iii) Sub-directorate Agricultural Product Quality Assurance. 

Equipment and services

Websites and publications

Visit the websites listed earlier on this page.

Some articles

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