The French are the world’s second largest fruit juice consumer, after Germany, despite sales decreasing slightly over the last few years. This decrease, of 2.5% last year, is due to computers, televisions and smartphones. People go to sleep later, therefore have less time in the morning for breakfast. Almost one in three people do not eat breakfast on a daily basis. This reflects on fruit juice sales as one in two fruit juices are consumed at breakfast.
Last year France consumed 1.5 billion litres of fruit juice, or 23 litres/capita/year, i.e. one glass two to three times a week. Contrary to other countries, the French prefer “pure juice”: squeezed, pasteurised fruit. It is now the most sold drink in France with 56% of sales, a 10% increase over 5 years. Pure juice costs about €2.40/bottle, about €1 more than concentrated juice, which is juice that is dehydrated in its country of origin and then rehydrated in France.
For both pure and concentrated juice it is forbidden to add sugar and preservatives in France, it is included in the health plan to consume 5 fruit and vegetables a day. In fact, the largest bottled fruit juice consumers in France are also those that consume the most fresh fruit and vegetables. This explains the strong increase in sales of organic fruit juice, up 63% in 5 years. Organic fruit juice sales make up almost one in ten of sales. Fruit juice is heavy, so sales via click and collect increased by 25% last year.