20 June 1984 New Zealand's place in the world fruit juice market examined

New Zealand will have to battle to succeed on world fruit juice markets against strong competition from Brazil and increasing competition from Third World countries, according to a report just released by the Agricultural Economics Research Unit at Lincoln College.

The report, by Mr M.T. Laing and Mr R.L. Sheppard, examines the current situation and prospects for fruit juice products.

Brazil is the dominant exporter of fruit juice and production there continues expanding.

Tropical Asian, African and Latin American countries increasingly entered the world juice market during the 1970s.

These countries have become established as suppliers of tropical juice raw materials.

In many developed countries consumption of fresh fruit has reached a peak and domestic production is being diverted to making juice.

A feature of the growing world juice market has been the emergence of several juice re-exporting countries.

Among these in Europe are West Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium, all reexporting juice to countries inside and outside the EEC.

Singapore and Hong Kong, and Bahrain and Dubai re-export in Asia and the Middle East.

The report evaluates export market potential, and identifies products for potential export markets.

Trends in fruit juice consumption and consumer preferences were also examined.

There is increasing competition for fruit juices in the overall beverage market.

This comes particularly from sparkling and still mineral waters, white wines, and sugar-free carbonated soft drinks.

There is a continuing trend towards trade in juice concentrates and pulps rather than finished consumer-packed juices.

Citrus juices dominate in consumer flavour preference, and newer flavours are accepted only slowly at a low level of demand.

Demand for single-serve juices in aseptic containers is growing rapidly, while that for frozen or concentrated juices is growing slowly.

In well-developed single-flavour markets multi-flavour juices are proliferating, according to the report.

Products in which juices are mixed with other beverages, such as milk or mineral water, are also a developing trend.

There is also an emerging trend for older people, particularly males over 25, to drink more juices.

People see juices as being healthy, and consumption is going up as more eat meals away from home.

The report looked at opportunities for individual juices on each of the potential markets.

On each of these markets the levels of domestic production and demand, and consumer preference were examined.

The report also looked at distribution outlets for particular market segments, and the accessibility for exporters.

However, several domestic factors will also determine whether New Zealand can exploit the market opportunities that have been identified in the report.

Among these are the cost at which New Zealand producers can grow processing-quality fruit, and the juice flavours produced here.

Other considerations are the relative transport costs of exported consumer packed and bulk packed juices, the potential for off-shore processing, and retention of the identity of New Zealand juices.

Further information from Mr R.L. Sheppard, Agricultural Economics Research Unit, Lincoln College, Canterbury, New Zealand.