PURE juice was shown in the Britvic Soft Drinks Review as having had a poor 2014. But James Logan of specialist juice and juice drinks supplier Refresco Gerber said performances within the category had varied.
Ambient multi-serve saw the biggest decline, down by 11.8%.
But sales of single-serve juice and juice drinks had bucked the trend. Chilled single serve increased by 5.4% and ambient by 2.4%, proof of the growth of on-the-go consumption and the popularity of meal deals, he said.
Sales of Just Juice (pictured left), a pure juice that’s exclusive to c-stores, had outpaced the market, he added. In 2013 it achieved 8% growth followed by a further 3% in 2014 in a declining market. The lines which performed best were the one-litre PMP and 500ml PMP in orange and apple flavours.
And he said juice drink Sunny D is growing by 32% year on year in volume through independent outlets and its chilled 500ml on-the-go juice drink growing at 27.7% in volume through independents.
On meal deals he suggested c-stores should offer a choice of soft drinks including bottled water, a juice, and a branded carbonated drink to ensure meal deals have a broad appeal. They should also highlight healthier meal deal options to appeal to health-conscious consumers.
