Member Article

British juicer: evolving the UK market

B.Fresh, a leading British producer of cold pressed juices, is carving out a new category in the chilled juice market in the UK.

By using – where seasonality and climate allow – produce grown, pressed and bottled on its family-owned and family-run farm, B.Fresh is attracting consumers back into the chilled juice market. As the first British grower and producer to use the cold pressed High Pressure Process (HPP), the non-thermal food processing technology enables B.Fresh juices, made of vegetables and fruit, to obtain a longer shelf-life. It also helps retain a higher levels of nutrients and vitamins and does not alter taste profiles, unlike the heat treated juice produced using traditional pasteurisation methods.

Led by Managing Director Philip Maddocks, B.Fresh juices are freshly produced and only contain the juice of the produce, meaning there are no stabilisers or additives and are naturally lower in sugar because of the high inclusion of vegetables. Owing to this, Shropshire based B.Fresh and Maddocks are leading the way in the premium fresh juice market, by carving out a stronger, healthier juice category.

B.Fresh is already making headway since its launch in November 2014, and now produces in the region of 5,000 litres a week. It has two decades’ worth of experience behind it, primarily growing and procuring high-quality produce, such as salad leaf, whole-head lettuce and spinach. And this farming heritage gives B.Fresh a solid understanding of how to select the highest quality produce for its juices.

Philip Maddocks, Managing Director of B.Fresh states: “The industry is changing and there’s potential to attract consumers back into the fresh juice category, with a clear and honest message. Confusing labelling has caused consumer uncertainty, and we want to deliver what the mainstream consumer needs: tasty, freshly-produced, healthy juice.”

Maddocks believes clear and clean labelling must be adopted by the food and drink industry to help consumers make an informed decision: “There is much confusion within the chilled juice category at consumer level and therefore mistrust” states Maddocks. “This shows in the overall decline of 5% in sales, seen across the market.” With a proud farming heritage, Maddocks sees the juice market as his next challenge, and aims to replicate the same success experienced with PDM, one of the UK’s leading specialist lettuce and baby leaf growers. Maddocks is also a 50% partner of Jupiter Marketing, a fresh fruit importing business.

“We want to encourage consumers to enjoy on the go healthy drinks and highlight the benefits of cold pressed juices – placing it firmly back in their minds as a healthier, higher-quality way to get one of your five-a-day,” continues Maddocks. “The B.Fresh story is simple and true: we farm great quality produce and source that same high standard of produce we cannot grow from other local farms.”

Not only is the HPP innovation key in the process but also in the development of new juices, and so this total control will allow Maddocks and his team to move quickly and efficiently to meet consumer demand.

The B.Fresh provenance gives the company a clear and distinctive difference. “We are also all trying harder to tread lightly across the planet with the movement of food,” adds Maddocks. “By producing as much of the produce as climate and seasonality will allow, we aim to keep our carbon footprint low.”

With Maddocks’ underlying passion for providing his customers up and down the country with the “juice of the land”, and with the company already experiencing an increase in consumer demand, B.Fresh is well on its way to growing the category and achieving this.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by B.Fresh Foods LLP .