Fruit juice boost for UK

Exports of our fruit and vegetable juices have increased by almost 40% since 2010 worth a record £65 million last year.

More people than ever before will be reaching for a refreshing cocktail of UK juiced fruit and vegetables after the festive season, with overseas sales of our juices reaching a record £65 million last year.

Apple and orange juice are among our biggest international sellers with £35 million in sales. Our juices are now shipped to 96 countries including fruit havens Spain, Italy, Brazil and America.

The demand for our fruit and vegetable drinks has soared by almost 40% since 2010 making the UK the fourth biggest juice exporter in the EU.

This adds to our growing food and farming sector, which is now worth a staggering £103 billion to the UK economy and employs 1 in 8 people. Overall our food and drinks exports now stand at £18.9 billion, their highest ever.

Environment Secretary Elizabeth Truss said:

It’s testament to the can-do attitude of our UK juicers that they’re selling orange juice to the likes of America and Spain, countries famed for their orange production – though given we’re already selling ice to Sweden and cheese to France it shouldn’t come as a great surprise.

This dramatic rise in demand for UK juiced fruit and veg is fantastic news for our growing economy - with 96 countries worldwide now enjoying our juices there’s potential for industry to drive sales even further.

Fruit juice and cordial company Belvoir Fruit Farms has seen sales soar with exports rising 60 per cent between 2013 and 2014 to £2.6 million.

Its drinks are found in a growing number of countries across Europe, Scandinavia, America, Canada, the Middle East and South East Asia.

Its USA market more than doubled in the last year and it has now secured new business in Austria, Slovakia, France and South Korea.

Peter Webster, Belvoir’s Head of International, said:

Export sales worldwide are becoming increasingly important to the Belvoir business, driven by our signature Elderflower Presse which still makes up the largest proportion of all of our global sales and is soon set to be our number 1 product in the USA.

Naturalness, organics and great taste are very important factors for consumers across the world and Belvoir can tick these boxes. We’re looking forward to an extremely successful 2015.

With an abundance of great British produce in local supermarkets across the country, you can easily make a “Beet ‘n’ Berry British” boost using these ingredients:

Beetroot – 1 beet

Asparagus – 4 spears

Apples – 1 medium

Blackberry – 2 cups

Lemon – half a lemon

Strawberries – 1 cup

Blend and serve with ice to taste.