Pandemic sweetens fruit juice markets for Thai exports
Thailand’s fruit juice exports in 2021 rose 14.31 per cent over the previous year and was valued at US $640.98 million (THB20.18 billion), the Commerce Ministry’s Trade Policy and Strategy Office (TPSO) said on Wednesday.
“Statistics from global market researching company Mintel revealed that in the past 10 years [2012-2021] Thailand has rolled out the second highest number of fruit juice products worldwide with 3,190 items, or 4.2 per cent of total products in the global fruit juice market,” TPSO director Ronnarong Poonphiphat said. “We are currently slightly behind China which is first with 3,628 fruit juice products, or 4.78 per cent, while Brazil is in the third place with 2,839 products, or 3.74 per cent.”
Ronnarong added that the United States was Thailand’s No. 1 market in 2021, as the country imported $266.3 million worth of Thai fruit juice, or 41.6 per cent of total fruit juice exports. China and the Netherlands are the second and third biggest markets for Thai exporters that are responsible for $48.18 million and $36.22 million worth of fruit juices respectively.
“The US market has high demand for organic fruit juices, especially among health-conscious consumers who prefer low sugar and low-calorie juices,” he added. “This trend has also opened new opportunities for fruit juices with extra healthy ingredients, such as added vitamins and prebiotics, which have helped manufacturers expand their product lines to larger groups of consumers.”
“The Covid-19 outbreak is one of the factors that helped boost fruit juice exports, as people have become more health-conscious during the pandemic and tend to consume more fruits and vegetables to strengthen their bodies' immunity against the virus,” added Ronnarong. “We saw this trend from the increasing demand for fruit juices with low sugar, no colour or preservatives added, while sales via online channels have also increased due to lockdown of traditional markets.”
