Is Grape Juice the Most Affordable Superfruit Juice?
The company says that when factoring in both polyphenol properties and price, Concord grape provides the biggest bang for the buck, so to speak.
Photo from Welch’s Global Ingredients
When it comes to a superfruit juice that’s both affordable as well as high in polyphenol content, Concord grape juice hits the sweet spot, according to new market analysis performed by Concord grape juice company Welch’s Global Ingredients (Concord, MA). The company bases its conclusion on market data it said it sourced in June 2018.
Welch’s says it did an analysis of current market prices for single-strength juice concentrates and found that Concord grape juice was the cheapest at just $2.20/U.S. gallon (3.8 liters). The company compared this with the price of acai juice (at $38.07/gallon, or 1630% more expensive than Concord grape), blueberry juice (at $4.01, or 82% more), pomegranate juice ($3.38/gallon, or 54% more), and dark sweet cherry juice (at $3.33, or 51% more). The company says its analysis reflects the most recent harvest prices for each fruit type. Cranberry juice came in close to Concord grape juice at a price of $2.26, albeit still 3% more expensive than grape.
While the other superfruit options were more expensive. Welch’s claims that Concord grape juice outperformed the others not only on price but on polyphenolic concentration. The company determined that Concord grape juice has a polyphenolic concentration of 2.6 mg GAE/ml, compared to blueberry juice (2.3 mg), acai and black cherry juice (both at 2.1 mg), and cranberry juice (at 1.7 mg). The company says that only pomegranate juice outperformed Concord grape, at 3.8 mg.
Thus, the company says, when factoring in both polyphenol properties and price, Concord grape provides the biggest bang for the buck, so to speak.
Kevin Kilcoyne, vice president and general manager, Welch’s Global Ingredients Group, said in a press release, “A barrier to superfruit juice consumption is the relatively higher cost of the raw materials, which leads to higher price points at retail. Our analysis demonstrates that thanks to the Concord grape, it’s possible to formulate a 100% superfruit juice that is not only affordable but also sits at the top end of the scale for positive nutrition. Furthermore, Concord grape juice scores highly on taste-something that can’t be said for some superfruit juices, such as açai, cranberry and pomegranate.”
