Packaging materials and supplies

Reusable fruit juice share on the rise

With growth of around 16 per cent, there is a clear trend towards reusable glass packaging in the fruit juice segment for the current year.

2 December 2020

Fruit juice in VdF returnable glass bottles

Consumers are increasingly turning to returnable glass bottles for fruit juice. (Image: VdF)

With growth of around 16 per cent, there is a clear trend towards reusable glass packaging in the fruit juice segment for the current year. According to recent market surveys by Information Resources GmbH (IRI), this segment is growing three times faster than the market as a whole.

"This year, consumers are placing a very high clear signal in the direction of sustainable fruit juice packaging. With the current figures, the reusable quota in our segment will continue to stabilise," says Klaus Heitlinger, Managing Director of the Association of the German Fruit Juice Industry in Bonn.

300 fruit juice producers use VdF reusable packaging

The figures show that, as awareness of the issues of sustainability and resource conservation increases, fruit juice in returnable glass bottles is becoming much more popular with consumers. However, this offer is not new, because for almost five decades the so-called VdF reusable system established in the market and is used nationwide by around 300 fruit juice producers.

This simplifies the return process, as the VdF bottles can be purchased from retailers nationwide in the pool system and easily returned. The bottles are always returned from retailers to a participating winery nearby - usually within a maximum radius of 100 kilometres. It is a self-contained cycle between producers, retailers and consumers.

Special bottle shape with embossing

You can recognise the VdF returnable bottle by its special shape and the embossing VdF Reusable on the edge of the bottle. The bottle deposit is 15 cents per bottle and EUR 1.50 for the crate. The bottle is available in 0.2 litre, 0.75 litre and 1.0 litre sizes.

Glass is one of the Original materials for beverage packaging. The advantage of glass for fruit juice and the like is that it is completely impermeable and neutral. It absorbs neither odours nor colourants and therefore cannot release them into the contents. In addition, glass is fully recyclable and can be melted down as often as required and processed into new glass bottles.

Source: VdF