UK Juice Market Analysis
The UK Juice Market has faced significant pressure from economic factors, notably rising fruit prices and the income squeeze, leading to volume declines in recent years. Historically, from 2019 to 2023, the market saw a decline in volume, though value sales continued to rise due to price hikes, with 2025 projected to reach over £6 billion in value.
UK Juice Market Trends
In the UK juice market, there’s a strong consumer preference for products with fermented and hydrating ingredients, like kombucha and coconut water, as consumers become more health-conscious.
At the same time, cost pressures have led many to switch to more affordable options, such as juice drinks and own-label products, while premium smoothies see growth through their health-centric positioning.
There is a rising demand for fruit blends, particularly among younger consumers, who value variety and innovation. Consumers are also becoming more mindful of the environmental impact of packaging, with the introduction of deposit return schemes in 2027 expected to influence purchasing habits.
Key Topics Analysed in the Report
- The impact of the income squeeze and cost pressures on the market and the outlook for the next five years
- Key new product development trends in the category
- Usage of fruit juice, juice drinks and smoothies
- How consumers have changed their fruit juice, juice drinks and smoothies buying habits
- How consumers would prefer that fruit juice, juice drinks and smoothies brands respond to rising fruit prices, including openness to price rises and recipe changes
- Behaviours related to fruit juice, juice drinks and smoothies, including opportunities for fermented ingredients
| Report Attributes | Details |
|---|---|
| Published Date | July 2025 |
| Data Range | 2019-2030 |
| Measurement Metrics | Revenue in £ |
| Country Focus | United Kingdom (UK) |
| Consumer Data | 2,000 internet users aged 16+, April 2025 |
| Number of Pages | 105 |
| Market Segmentation | Fruit Juice, Juice Drinks, Smoothies, Coconut Water |
| Leading Companies in the UK Juice Market | Innocent, Tropicana, Copella, Appletiser, Cawston Press, POM Wonderful, James White, Oasis, Robinsons, Ribena, J2O, Vita Coco, Rubicon, Capri-Sun, Moju, Naked, Mockingbird, Happy Monkey, and Don Simon. |
Meet the Expert Behind the Analysis
This report was written by Sam Fryers. Upon graduating with a BSc degree in Business Studies, Sam joined Mintel Ireland in October 2023, building upon prior experience gained during his placement year in a consumer insights role. Sam joins the research team in Belfast, where he will contribute to the production of Mintel’s Irish reports.
Category inflation and the income squeeze have prompted widespread changes to habits. Hydration and fermented ingredients hold potential for elevating health.
Sam Fryers
Research Analyst
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
- Opportunities for the market
- Blends hold potential for responding to rising fruit prices
- Relaxing and refreshing associations are key to unlock evening occasions
- Fermented and hydrating ingredients hold untapped potential
- Market dynamics and outlook
- Market size & forecast
- Market predictions
- Inflation will drive value growth as volumes stall
- Orange price rises take a toll on fruit juice
- Graph 1: value sales of fruit juice, juice drinks and smoothies, by segment, 2023-25
- Own-label loses volume share in fruit juice in 2024/25
- Graph 2: retail sales of leading brands in fruit juice, by value, 2022/23-2024/25
- Juice drinks brands see mixed fortunes
- Graph 3: retail sales of leading brands in juice drinks, by value, 2022/23-2024/25
- Innocent recovers in smoothies in 2024/25
- Graph 4: retail sales of leading brands in smoothies, by value, 2022/23-2024/25
- Rising prices and savvy habits make a challenging landscape
- What consumers want and why
- Fruit juice leads on usage, juice drinks enjoyed an uptick
- Half of adults drink fruit juice once a week or more
- Graph 5: frequency of drinking fruit juice, juice drinks, smoothies and coconut water, 2025
- Fruit juice leads in the morning, juice drinks win favour later in the day
- Graph 6: when fruit juice, smoothies and juice drinks are typically drunk, by type, 2025
- Nearly three in four buyers have changed buying habits
- Graph 7: how consumers’ buying habits of fruit juice, juice drinks or smoothies have changed in the last 12 months, 2025
- Recipe changes and price rises vie for preference as responses to rising fruit prices
- Graph 8: how consumers would prefer fruit juice/juice drink/smoothie brands responded if the cost of fruit went up, 2025
- Fermented ingredients can dial up healthy image
- Graph 9: behaviours related to fruit juice, juice drinks and smoothies, 2025
- Innovation and marketing
- Functional drinks continue to attract launches
- Adspend fell in 2024
- Graph 10: total above-the-line, online display and direct mail advertising expenditure on fruit juice, juice drink and smoothies, by leading advertisers, 2021-25
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MARKET DYNAMICS
- Market size
- Price rises and tight budgets have hit market volumes
- Graph 11: value and volume sales of fruit juice, juice drinks and smoothies, 2019-25
- Continued pressure from competing drinks
- Market forecast
- Inflation will drive value growth…
- …as volumes stall
- Rising real incomes will stem volume decline
- Headwinds endure
- Market segmentation
- Orange price rises take a toll on fruit juice
- Graph 12: value sales of fruit juice, juice drinks and smoothies, by segment, 2023-25
- Graph 13: volume sales of fruit juice, juice drinks and smoothies, by segment, 2023-25
- Juice drinks steal a march
- Market share
- Own-label loses volume share in fruit juice in 2024/25
- Graph 14: retail sales of leading brands in fruit juice, by value, 2022/23-2024/25
- Innocent gains further share in juice
- Juice drink brands post mixed performances
- Graph 15: retail sales of leading brands in juice drinks, by value, 2022/23-2024/25
- Stalwarts lose share, better-for-you challengers gain ground
- Innocent recovers in smoothies in 2024/25
- Graph 16: retail sales of leading brands in smoothies, by value, 2022/23-2024/25
- Mockingbird Raw Press among the star performers in smoothie segment
- Market drivers
- Real wage growth continues, but many consumers are still catching up
- Graph 17: CPI inflation rate and total pay growth rate, 2021-25
- Subdued financial wellbeing drives trading down
- Graph 18: the financial wellbeing index, 2016-25
- Consumer confidence for the year ahead weakened in 2024
- Graph 19: the financial confidence index, 2016-25
- Two in three try to eat always or mostly healthily
- Graph 20: how often people try to eat healthily, 2019-25
- Scrutiny of UPFs affects consumers’ drinks choices
- Government measures on HFSS food and drink slow to roll out
- A largely exempt category can benefit from HFSS restrictions
- Poor orange harvests drive price rises
- Graph 21: CPI annual rate of fruit/vegetable juices, waters and other soft drinks, 2019-25
- DRS postponed until 2027
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WHAT CONSUMERS WANT AND WHY
- Usage of fruit juice, juice drinks and smoothies
- Fruit juice leads on usage, juice drinks enjoyed an uptick
- Graph 22: frequency of drinking fruit juice, juice drinks, smoothies and coconut water, 2025
- Strong finances facilitate fruit juice and smoothies usage
- Graph 23: usage of fruit juice, juice drinks, smoothies and coconut water once a week or more, by financial situation, 2025
- The young, men and families are core users
- Graph 24: usage of fruit juice, juice drinks, smoothies and coconut water once a week or more, by age and gender, 2025
- When fruit juice, juice drinks and smoothies are typically drunk
- Fruit juice leads in the morning, juice drinks win favour later in the day
- Graph 25: when fruit juice, smoothies and juice drinks are typically drunk, by type, 2025
- Fruit juice leads in the morning, juice drinks gain in the afternoon
- Fruit juice leads at breakfast
- Graph 26: when fruit juice, smoothies and juice drinks are typically drunk, by type, 2025
- Usage drops off in the evening and night time
- Graph 27: usage of fruit juice, smoothies and juice drinks are typically drunk in the evening and nighttime, by type, 2025
- Spotlight relaxation to boost appeal as an evening drink
- M&S and Turmeric Co rare examples using relaxation-enhancing ingredients
- High concerns about sugar content disrupting sleep
- Graph 28: agreement that sugar in fruit juice/juice drinks/smoothies means drinking them in the evening risks disrupting your sleep, by age and presence of children, 2025
- ‘Lower blood sugar rise’ claim holds unique potential for sweeteners
- Reframe water content as enhancing refreshment
- Overseas examples showcase linking water and flavours to refreshment
- Lean into fruits’ role in recipes to elevate meal pairing image
- Mine Britain’s love of world cuisines
- Bolster meal and snack time connotations in store
- Changes in purchasing of fruit juice, juice drinks or smoothies
- Nearly three in four buyers have changed purchasing habits of fruit juice/juice drinks/smoothies
- Graph 29: how consumers’ buying habits of fruit juice, juice drinks or smoothies have changed in the last 12 months, 2025
- Three in four buyers have changed purchasing habits
- Half of buyers changed how they buy, not what
- Graph 30: how consumers’ buying habits of fruit juice, juice drinks or smoothies have changed in the last 12 months, 2025 (Nets)
- Switching away from top brands is more common among younger groups
- Graph 31: how consumers’ buying habits of fruit juice, juice drinks or smoothies have changed in the last 12 months, by age, 2025
- Leading brands not listed in cheaper retailers risk losing out
- Promotions remain a key tool for established players to curb switching
- Look to weekend breakfast for cross-selling promotion opportunities
- How consumers would prefer brands respond to rising fruit prices
- Recipe changes and price rises vie for preference as response to rising fruit prices
- Graph 32: how consumers would prefer fruit juice/juice drink/smoothie brands responded if the cost of fruit went up, 2025
- Consumers are divided over the preferred response to rising fruit prices
- Lower cost recipes are crucial for brands targeting the young
- Graph 33: preferred response of fruit juice/juice drink/smoothie brands if the cost of fruit went up, by age, 2025
- Look to fruit blends to cut cost, while enticing adventurous drinkers
- Celebrate the uniqueness of blends
- Spotlight the positive of blends
- UK and overseas examples highlight the positives of blends
- Delivering beneficial nutrients can win favour for smaller formats
- Spotlight contribution to daily intakes to stand out
- Behaviours related to fruit juice, juice drinks and smoothies
- Fermented and hydrating ingredients have a role to play in better-for-you space
- Fermented ingredients can dial up healthy image
- Graph 34: behaviours related to fruit juice, juice drinks and smoothies, 2025
- Potential for fermented ingredients in juice drinks/smoothies
- The time is ripe for flavour disruption
- Brands with sparkling juice drinks well placed to explore kombucha blends, under-35s are a key audience
- Own-label and brands embrace fermented ingredients
- Hydration holds untapped potential in juice/juice drinks/smoothies
- Spotlight hydration to stand out in competitive morning occasion
- Opportunities to tap hydration beyond coconut
- Fruit juice and coconut water can play in sports drinks
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INNOVATION AND MARKETING TRENDS
- Launch activity and innovation
- Branded products lose share of launches in 2024
- Graph 35: branded vs private label’s share of launches in the fruit juice, juice drinks and smoothies market, 2020-25
- Supermarkets heat up competition in functional
- Shots and vitamin/mineral-fortified claims grow in 2024
- Graph 36: share of fruit juice, juice drinks and smoothie launches that reference vitamin/mineral fortification, 2020-25
- Digestive claims gain share of launches
- Graph 37: fruit juice, juice drink and smoothies launches with functional claims, 2020-25
- Recent launches expand and refresh functional juices/smoothies
- Apple and orange remained top flavour components in 2024
- Graph 38: launches of juices, juice drinks and smoothies, by flavour component subgroup, 2020-25
- Ginger gains share in early 2025 launches
- Tropicana launches Fresh & Light
- Innocent refreshes packaging in 2025
- Plenish and Innocent launch new kids’ products
- Treat flavours continue to attract launches
- Advertising and marketing activity
- Adspend fell slightly in 2024
- Graph 39: total above-the-line, online display and direct mail advertising expenditure on fruit juice, juice drink and smoothies, 2021-25
- Innocent and PepsiCo stepped up spend in 2024
- Graph 40: total above-the-line, online display and direct mail advertising expenditure on fruit juice, juice drink and smoothies, by leading advertisers, 2021-25
- Oasis promises ‘Lunchbreak Rescue’
- Oasis calls for Britain to ‘Save your Lunch Break’
- Innocent spotlights wealth of ingredients in 2024 campaign
- Vita Coco supports Treats launch
- Naked runs eye-catching ‘Get Naked, Get Going’ ads in selected TfL locations
- Plenish urges consumers to ‘Give it a Shot’
- Purity Soft Drinks launches its ‘biggest ever’ campaign for Juice Burst
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APPENDIX
- Supplementary data
- Outdoor remained key focus for category adspend in 2024
- Graph 41: total above-the-line, online display and direct mail advertising expenditure on fruit juice, juice drink and smoothies, by media type, 2021-25*
- Market forecast data and methodology
- Value market size and forecast: total fruit juice, juice drinks and smoothies, 2019-30
- Volume market size and forecast: total fruit juice, juice drinks and smoothies, 2019-30
- Market forecast and prediction intervals (value)
- Market forecast and prediction intervals (volume)
- Forecast methodology
- Market share
- UK: retail sales of leading brands in fruit juice, by value, 2022/23-2024/25
- UK: retail sales of leading brands in fruit juice, by volume, 2022/23-2024/25
- UK: retail sales of leading brand owners in fruit juice, by volume, 2022/23-2024/25
- UK: retail sales of leading brands in juice drinks, by value, 2022/23-2024/25
- UK: retail sales of leading brands in juice drinks, by volume, 2022/23-2024/25
- UK: retail sales of leading brand owners in juice drinks, by value, 2022/23-2024/25
- UK: retail sales of leading brand owners in juice drinks, by volume, 2022/23-2024/25
- UK: retail sales of leading brands in smoothies, by value, 2022/23-2024/25
- UK: retail sales of leading brands in smoothies, by volume, 2022/23-2024/25
- UK: retail sales of leading brand owners in smoothies, by value, 2022/23-2024/25
- UK: retail sales of leading brand owners in smoothies, by volume, 2022/23-2024/25
- Report scope and definitions
- Market definition
- Abbreviations and terms
- Consumer research methodology
- Nielsen Ad Intel coverage
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