Dairy products and beverages gaining favor with health-conscious consumers over fruit juices.

Dairy products and beverages are challenging fruit juices in the health and wellness sectors, according to an industry expert. Robert Kay-Shuttleworth, chief executive of beverage consultancy Canadean, at a recent speech said that there were "enormous similarities" between new product development in the dairy and juice sectors. " I think dairy is possibly pushing the added value angle more successfully than juice and nectars companies - and they are using juice [in their products] as well," he said.

He pointed to probiotic products as a case in point, reminding delegates that while they accounted for very small volumes, they were very high value products. He viewed dairy beverages as serious competition to fruit juices.

According to the 2007 Functional Dairy Drinks report from food and drink consultancy Zenith International combined markets of western Europe, the U.S. and Japan saw functional dairy drinks consumption rise 12% to 999 million liters, worth [euro]3.43 billion at retail values, in 2006,. Sales in these three key markets are projected to reach 1.60 billion liters worth [euro]6.25 billion by 2011.

KayShuttleworth put global consumption of soft drinks at 570 billion liters and the global average consumption at just under 90 liters per capita, adding that juices and nectars comprised a mere six liters of this figure.

Because of the skewed consumption rates in different parts of the world, this average figure is misleading, he cautioned. Per capita consumption of juices and nectars is highest in Australia, at 34 liters annually, followed by 33 liters in North America, 26 liters in western Europe and 16 liters in eastern Europe. "Most regions consume considerably less than one liter every two months," he said. "But these regions are growing very fast and are hugely important to the industry."

Of the various beverage categories, bottled water's growth has been spectacular, but KayShuttleworth pinpointed juice drinks as an important sector. "They have been moving forward very well," he said. "Juice-containing drinks account for about 28% of volume but their growth rate has been significantly higher - 36% of growth has come out of 'juicy' products. We are going to see more of this type of products. It is up to you, the industry, to make that opportunity grow. It is not going to happen on its own."