why fruit juice appeals less to less to the French

This decline is all the more notable as France is the second largest consumer of fruit juices on the European continent. 90% of French households buy it: we consume 18 liters per person per year. The French fruit juice market is worth 1.5 billion euros, but has been declining in reality since 2015, at a continuous rate of around 3% each year.

This trend can be explained in particular by the composition of the liquid, and competition from other drinks. The composition first: our disaffection is more and more pronounced for added sugars. It’s a bit like fat and salt in food in general: sugar has more and more bad press. Especially, as Nielsen explains, since the very official National Nutrition and Health Program has moved fruit juices from the category of the famous five fruits and vegetables to consume every day to the category of sugary drinks, sodas and energy drinks. . This has prompted more consumers to change their habits.

Business is business, everyone makes their case. For the president of the Interprofessional Fruit Juice Federation (Unijus), major competitors such as soda producers have every interest in fruit juices being assimilated to the family of sugary drinks to boost sales.

Would this competition be helped by favorable regulations, such as this European directive revised a few years ago and which legally regulates fruit juice in such a way that it is not possible to remove sugar from it? This plays into the game of big sugary drinks, but the consumer is not fooled when it comes to his health, and for households that can afford it: prefer a good pressed natural fruit. But certainly more expensive.