With more fruit and less sugar!

In 2018 sales of various drinks containing fruit juice represented 11 percent of total non-alcoholic drink sales – 280 million litres in volume. More than 5 percent of this were 100-percent fruit juices, 16 percent were fruit nectars and 79 percent were fruit drinks. Istvánné Bikfalvi, secretary of the Hungarian Mineral Water, Fruit Juice and Soft Drink Association told that the sector’s sugar reduction programme had great influence on fruit juice production, especially in the fruit drink segment as 100-percent juices contain no added sugar.

Manufacturers have cut the sugar content and increased the fruit content of fruit drinks. In their portfolios they also increased the proportion of low- and zero calories products. Ms Bikfalvi revealed that the rise in raw material prices entailed higher fruit juice prices. Large companies are using world-class production technology and they keep investing in technological development. Small- and medium-sized companies are also making quality products, but they could do with a bit of funding to modernise their production technology. The biggest challenges are posed by problems related to packaging.