A new report on juice drink innovation from specialist food and drink consultancy Zenith International has highlighted nine themes driving new product development and innovation worldwide: functionality, low sugar/calorie, child orientated, new flavour/variety, origin and provenance, limited edition, innovative packaging, new proposition/concept and cross category.

The report covers 100% fruit juice, 24-99% juice content nectars and 5-24% juice content fruit drinks.

"Most innovation is taking place to boost slower growth in the more mature markets of north America and west Europe," comments Zenith regional research consultant Marta Babits. "Here, there is a focus on developing premium products which offer added value through some form of functional benefit or technical advance, such as cold-pressed juices that aim to retain more nutrients and a more natural taste.

"In the faster growth emerging markets of Asia, Latin America and Africa, demand is increasing for affordable, more nutritious juice based drinks."