Growing and marketing soft fruit for juices and beverages

Abstract

The growing and marketing of soft fruits (berries and currants) for the juice-processing industry is still being developed. Only in recent years have processors sought growers who were prepared to grow fruits specifically for the industry instead of depending on product that was surplus to the fresh fruit market. For the grower this has meant a change in growing and harvesting techniques, with the need to appreciate the juice industry requires standards parallel to those of the fresh fruit market. No longer is juice production considered the home for sub-standard reject fruit and the industry has had to accept that to produce the higher quality required, the grower deserves and must have, an adequate return for his labour. Despite this realisation, as demand for various soft fruits expands, the fruit grower is faced with an increasing number of options when he sets out to grow and sell to the juice-processing industry.