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Organic fruit-based drinks to reach US$47.78 bn by 2027
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Wednesday, 15 February, 2023, 14 : 00 PM [IST]
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Nirmal Thirunavookarasu, S Anandakumar, Chidanand D V
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Consumers are now more health-conscious, environmentally conscious and ethically focused. As a result, organic agriculture has become an important priority area globally. The Green Revolution's advent helped achieve self-sufficient food production in major developing countries. However, sustaining food production against limited natural resource base demands has shifted steadily from "resource-degrading" chemical agriculture to "resource-protecting" organic agriculture.
Due to its diverse agro-climatic conditions, India has great potential to produce all types of organic products. This acts as an opportunity for organic producers to enter the constantly expanding domestic and international markets. As per the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture and IFOAM Organic Internationals 2021 report, India ranks third in overall land area under organic agriculture worldwide and stands first in total organic produce worldwide.
The beverage industry generally focuses on carbonated, alcoholic, non-alcoholic, malt-based, protein and low-sugar drinks. Global population growth has led to an increase in food and beverage consumption. The current global scenario and the health-consciousness of consumers have significantly impacted the beverage industries to produce fresh drinks, ready-to-drink products and nutritional supplements in higher quantities. Further, this also increased the demand for organic-based fruit drinks and beverages which can provide high nutrition and are potentially free from any pesticide or chemical residues.
Organic drinks are juices made using fresh or sourced chemical or pesticide-free fruits cultivated using organic methods in farming. These fruit drinks benefit the consumers, and manufacturers take utmost care in ingredient sourcing and manufacturing methods to term their drinks 'organic'. These organic drinks are primarily devoid of common chemical preservatives, stabilisers, additives and fillers.
The aftermath of Covid-19 has influenced the organic fruit-based drink market globally, and its market during 2021 has been valued at US$20.31 billion; the market will further increase due to the projected compounded annual growth rate of 13% from 2022 to 2027. If organic fruit-based drinks increase at this projected rate, the market will reach a maximum of US$47.78 billion by 2027.
The major manufacturers or brands of organic fruit-based drinks around the world include Lakewood Juice Company, Santa Cruz Organic, Purity organics, Evolution fresh, Danone, 1915 Organic, Uncle Matt’s, Hain Celestial Group, Coca-Cola, Organic valley, 24 Manta Organic, Parkers Organic Juice, Suja Life LLC, Bot Organic, Home juice, Pure green, Austria Juice etc. Apart from these companies, the significant MNCs in the organic food market are Amy’s Kitchen, United Natural Foods, Cargill and General Mills, which are currently expanding their organic food and beverage market.
North America and Europe are important markets for organic-based fruit drink consumption around the globe. However, most regions like Asia-Pacific, the Middle-East, and South America contribute to the growing market for organic fruit-based drinks.
Conventional drink vs Organic drink
Conventional fruit drinks undergo a high-temperature treatment to remove the harmful bacteria present in them, and further different preservatives, stabilisers, sugars and artificial sweeteners may be added to enhance their sensory attributes and market values. However, in organic drinks, no chemical preservatives or sweeteners are added. During manufacturing, the drinks are usually processed using cold- or high-pressure processing, which can inhibit microbial growth and enhance the shelf life of the juices without affecting their natural characteristics. This results in good quality drinks with high nutrition and provides a fresh feel when the consumers consume them.
The organic fruit-based drinks market is growing globally across developed and developing countries. The organic beverage market is segmented into six based on the products developed. This includes fruit, beer, wine, coffee, tea and non-dairy drinks. The industries can focus on indigenous and herbal products pertaining to that specific region as the organic produce can be sourced easily.
Organic-based drinks refer to juices and carbonated juices and can also consist of different beverages like tea, coffee and iced tea. Consumption of these organic beverages can help people increase antioxidant levels and maintain their gut microbiota, which leads to maintaining their immunity against various diseases. Since these organic-based drinks are fully loaded with nutrition, they can prolong the feeling of fullness in humans and, at times, tend to reduce food cravings, ultimately reducing the urge for snacks and maintaining our bodies healthy. They further contribute to maintaining the body's hydration, providing plenty of fibre and antioxidants.
Since many industries are into producing several organic-based beverages, the manufacturers must follow new ideas to compete with their competitors. Thus, the manufacturers producing organic fruit-based drinks must focus on increasing their product range and enable more research into developing novel nutritious products to help consumers avail more authentic and natural drinks. In addition, the products must be specifically designed to satisfy the taste and nutritional needs of the consumer. Further, the companies must focus on sustainable packaging technologies with innovative ideas that attract consumers to their products and contribute to environmental consciousness.
Regulations for Organic-based Drinks
Organic food standards are overseen by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) Regulations of 2017. Considering the increase in the market's wide range of organic products, FSSAI has introduced the Jaivik Bharat logo for organic foods. This logo helps consumers to identify authentic organic foods; however, the small-scale original farmers and farmer organisations are exempted from verification. Before the FSS regulations, organic foods and organic agriculture were controlled by the National Programme for Organic Production (NPOP) standards and Participatory Guarantee System (PGS-India). A study suggested that there are nearly 69% higher antioxidant levels in organic foods than in non-organic, and they possess nearly 30% lower levels of nitrates, which can eliminate the risk of certain cancers.
Globally, the European Union has laid down the rules and regulations in their legal framework for organic fruit juices and nectars. The Council Regulation (EC) No 834/2007 has established the standards for producing, labelling, and distributing organic products produced and traded in Europe. The defined regulations consist of a list of permitted products that can be used for farming, ingredients and production of organic foods. Further, if 95% of the ingredients used in a product are organic, then only a product can be marked as “Organic”. In addition, organic foods must be free from any genetically modified organisms.
The increase in demand for fresh organic juices by middle-class people, their health benefits like anti-cancer, anti-ageing and antioxidant properties and their rich freshness, aroma and taste while consumed are the significant factors that can be attributed to the boost up in the sales and production of organic fruit-based drinks. The market potential of organic-based drinks will increase tremendously in future as the product obtained from organic farming possesses high nutrition, good taste and are chemical-free. Further, the export market of these organic drinks is expanding as most countries require these drinks and developing a highly marketable drink can fetch a premium market brand globally. Thus overall, the current scenario has tremendously increased the scope for producing organic-based drinks globally.
Thirunavookarasu and Chidanand are from Industry Academia Cell, National Institute of Food Technology, Entrepreneurship and Management – Thanjavur (NIFTEM-T). Thanjavur, and Anandakumar is from Department of Food Packaging and System Development, NIFTEM-T. Thanjavur)
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