Juice has the potential to build on its natural and leisure attributes to drive ongoing product development around health claims and penetrate everyday occasions such as work, study and exercise. Freshness is now a key factor attracting consumers.
Marta Zhang, Senior Analyst, China Insights
Market Definitions
This Report covers packaged pure fruit juices, nectars and juice drinks; carbonated fruit juices are also included.
Total market size includes sales of packaged juice products through both retail (eg supermarkets, convenience stores, vending machines) and non-retail (eg foodservice, food industry) channels. Retail value includes the sales value of all packaged juice products through retail channels.
Mintel classifies juice products into three different segments by concentration: pure juices, nectars and juice drinks.
- Pure juice: contains nothing but fruit juice at the same strength and consistency as when the fruit was squeezed and juices made from concentrates that are 100% pure, but are reconstituted to their original strength after transportation. Examples of pure juice products are Huiyuan (汇源) 100% Orange Juice and Nongfu Spring (农夫山泉) NFC.
- Nectars: medium-concentration products containing less than 100% (generally 25%-99%) fruit juice with added ingredients, mainly water. Examples of nectars are Nongfu Orchard (农夫果园) 30% Mixed Fruit and Vegetable Juice and Minute Maid Essential Delight.
- Juice drinks: low concentration products with less than 100% juice content (usually below 25%) and containing some additional ingredients – primarily water, but also artificial sweeteners, flavourings, colourings and/or vitamins. Examples of juice drinks include Tropicana Orange Juice Drink.
Excluded
This Report excludes packaged fruit flavoured drinks without juice as an ingredient, powdered products, smoothies and unpackaged freshly squeezed fruit juices which are made from fruit at the point of purchase and consumed immediately eg at fruit juice bars.
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Executive summary
- Key topics covered in this Report
- Definitions
- Subgroup definitions
- What you need to know
- Market overview
- New product trends
- Consumer trends
- Keys to brand success
- What we think
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THE MARKET
- Market size and forecast
- Consumption volumes drive growth, but retail sales growth lags behind non-alcoholic drinks
- Market segments
- 100% juice drinks with NFC and HPP claims saw further growthPure juice sees significant growth, while health-oriented innovations transform nectars and juice drinks
- Market factors
- Graph 1: retail sales growth rates for grains, oils and food and foodservice, 2020-24
- Graph 2: what consumers cut back on to save money, 2025
- Juice consumption remains generally stable, with growing consumer interest in higher-price products
- Graph 3: trading up/down in juice, 2023-24
- New national food safety standards forbid misleading ‘no added’ claims
- Graph 4: ‘no added’ claims consumers value, 2023-25
- Manufacturers need to address consumer concerns about sugar content
- Graph 5: barriers to purchase, 2024
- As working hours remain long, liquid salads are positioned at the forefront of nutritional supplementation
- Graph 6: proportion of new launches of juice drinks containing the word ‘salad’, 2020-25
- Graph 7: average weekly working hours of company employees nationwide, 2021-24
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Companies and brands
- Market share
- Nongfu Spring and Huiyuan lead growth among top brands, but the overall market landscape is more fragmented
- Emerging brands to watch
- Private labels are forging into the pure juice space, changing the competitive landscape
- Graph 8: new juice drinks*, by sub-category and brand type, 2020-25
- New product trends
- Active innovation in the juice category, with pure juice accounting for half of new products
- Graph 9: non-alcoholic drink launches, by category, 2020-25
- Graph 10: juice drink launches, by sub-category, 2020-25
- 100% pure fruit juice: explore the potential of diverse fruit flavours
- Graph 11: launches of new 100% fruit juice products, by composition of top ten flavours, 2020-25
- 100% pure fruit juice: further diversification of flavours
- Flavourscape AI: methodology
- 100% pure fruit juice: from ‘sweet’ to ‘sweet + X’, enhance juice layers with complex flavours
- 100% pure fruit juice: half of new products are NFC, HPP is rising fast, while multiple claims start to emerge
- Graph 12: new product launches of 100% juice*, by claim, 2020-25
- Nectars and juice drinks: significant growth in non-fruit flavours
- Graph 13: juice drinks* new product launches, by top ten flavour subgroup, 2022-25
- Nectars and juice drinks: the rapid rise of vegetable and floral flavours
- Flavourscape AI: methodology
- Examples of new vegetable, floral, and plant flavours
- Nectars and juice drinks: minus and natural claims grow faster than for 100% pure juice
- Graph 14: new product launches of nectars and juice drinks, by claim, 2020-25
- Weight-loss and preservative-free products surge, but brands should respond further to demand
- Graph 15: new launches of nectars and juice drinks, by type of minus claim, 2020-25
- Graph 16: new nectars and juice drinks, by type of minus claim, 2020-25
- Examples of products with 0% fat, plus, and organic claims
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The consumer
- Juice consumption moves into the home, while a focus on meal replacement occasions offers potential
- Packaged juice faces double trouble, competing against other soft drinks and home-pressed juice
- Graph 17: consumption frequency, 2025
- Graph 18: non-alcoholic drinks consumption penetration, 2023-2025
- Post-1990s are enthusiastic about diverse packaged juices, while Post-1980s prefer homemade freshly squeezed juice
- Graph 19: juice consumption frequency – medium-to-high frequency drinkers, by generation, 2025
- Juice consumption moves into the home, with further room to explore consumption occasions
- Graph 20: drinking occasions, 2025
- Graph 21: drinking occasions – repertoire analysis, 2025
- Exploring the potential of brainwork scenarios among Post-1990s and high-income consumers
- Graph 22: drinking occasions, by generation and monthly income, 2025
- Graph 23: compatible occasions for non-alcoholic drinks – mental work, 2024
- Functional enhancements further aid focus
- 100% vegetable juice can function as a meal supplement solution when work is busy
- Graph 24: behaviour associated with juice and juice drinks, high-frequency drinkers, 2025
- Ingredient upgrades drive innovation in juice drinks; freshness and organic claims enhance product value
- Consumers are increasingly keen on fruit and vegetable ingredients, while price is less of a concern
- Graph 25: purchase factors, 2023-25
- Ingredient upgrades boost loyalty among frequent juice drink consumers
- Graph 26: purchase factors, by high-frequency drinkers, 2025
- Make compound fruit flavours and floral fruit notes a priority
- Graph 27: behaviour associated with juice and juice drinks–”compared to single-ingredient juices, I drink juices with diverse ingredients more often”, by high-frequency drinkers, 2025.
- Examples of products with compound fruit and floral flavours
- An emphasis on freshness helps expand the customer base
- Graph 28: behaviour relating to juice and juice drinks, 2025
- While most purchases happen offline, short shelf-life juices can boost online penetration by leveraging the cold chain
- Graph 29: juice purchasing channels, 2025
- Post-1980s favour organic products, but a mismatch between supply and demand remains
- Graph 30: purchasing factors—organic, by generation, 2025
- Digestive health comes top, with superfoods boosting development of multifunctional products
- Gut health emerges as a core focus for consumers and brands
- Graph 31: demand for functional juice, 2025
- Juice products with sleep and eye protection claims should step up communications around effectiveness and availability
- Demand for functional ingredients is higher among women…
- Graph 32: demand for functional juice, by gender, 2025
- …but women are also more concerned about sugar
- Graph 33: obstacles to juice purchases, by gender, 2024
- Graph 34: choice of source of sweetness – juice, by gender, 2023
- Prioritise cucumber, beetroot and kale as primary carriers of functional benefits
- Graph 35: ingredient perception, 2025
- Women are more likely to see superfoods as healthy
- Graph 36: ingredient awareness – healthy, by gender, 2025
- Combine superfoods with other ingredients to meet the functional needs of women
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Issues and insights
- Juice’s association with naturalness and leisure drives penetration of hydration occasions
- Juice is a natural and healthy choice for daily hydration
- Nectars/juice drinks: emphasise hydration and highlight reduced sugar
- Focus on hydration needs linked to everyday exercise occasions
- Graph 37: sports participation rate over the past three months, 2021-25
- 100% juice: harness the power of natural electrolytes
- Multi-dimensional upgrades boost perception of freshness
- Freshness drives demand, so refrigerated juices should make more of it
- Graph 38: new juice drink launches, by storage method, 2020-25
- Highlight the ‘freshness’ of ingredients
- Boost perception of freshness through packaging
- Juice ‘shots’ unleash functional potential
- In an era of large packaging, smaller sizes could be the next big thing
- Graph 39: behaviour associated with juice and juice drinks, 2025
- Small package, big punch: unlock functional potential with shots
- The future: small doses in large bottles
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Appendix – market size and forecast, research methodology and abbreviations
- Market size and forecast
- Methodology
- Abbreviations
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